Ashes
by Indium2000
Summary: They say the town tree is a symbol for the town. As one grows and flourishes, so does the other. But what they don't know is that the connection is much deeper and more powerful than that. The town of Serenity is about to find that out the hard way. And then everything will change.
1. Chapter 1 - Work

**Chapter 1 – Work**

 **Kelsea's POV – July 6**

"Hello, Mayor!" says Isabelle cheerfully as I push open the door to the town hall.

"Hi, Isabelle," I say, smiling and heading over to my desk at the back. "How are you today?"

"Very good, thank you!" she says. "How about you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," I say, sitting down in my black leather chair. "Would you bring me the citizen satisfaction committee file?"

"Sure thing, Mayor," she says, rummaging around in a stack on her desk and bringing a beige folder over. She takes out a paper.

"According to the latest survey," she says, "the residents of Serenity feel that although the town is doing well, there is a lack of development in the town, making it feel just "average". They want more public works projects! However, they enjoy the cleanliness of the town and feel there is a very good amount of greenery."

"Hmm," I say. "How many Bells have been donated for our wisteria trellis near the cliff?"

"Nearly 60,000 Bells," she replies. "58,492 to be exact."

58,000 out of the 124,000 that's needed to build it. I've known for a while that my neighbours like having public works projects, so I've been trying to build a few of them lately. Donations trickle in slowly, but at least they come. I just want to help make Serenity the best and happiest town it can be. The wisteria trellis is something I would love to have. Based on the sketch Isabelle's shown me, it looks beautiful. It can only improve our town.

"Thanks," I say. "I hope we can get it built soon." I have almost enough Bells to pay it off myself, actually. One fishing trip and I can get it done. I probably should, but Carli and Jacob say I work too much as it is. I know they don't particularly like how I'm so busy sometimes, but it's my duty.

Speaking of which, Carli and Pate decided to spend a day in Oceana City today, but I decided not to go just so I could come in.

I glance out the window to see Blanche and Vivian chatting outside. Probably about the latest news in their fashion magazines. I suppose it would be nice just to have no responsibilities and spend my entire days outside with my neighbours. Not that being mayor takes up my entire day—I'm actually usually only here for a few hours a day, maybe more depending on what needs to be done—but it might be nice to have a few days (and not just holidays, but maybe regular days, too) where I can relax all day.

"Mayor?" asks Isabelle.

"Yeah?" I ask. "What can I do for you?"

"You look like you want to go outside," Isabelle says, smiling. "Would you like to take the rest of the day off?"

"Huh?" I ask. "Oh, no, that's okay. We need to work on the planning for this month's Bug-Off, don't we? And we have the Fireworks Shows to manage next month."

"Very well," she replies.

"How much do we have in the town treasury?" I ask. "We have to buy a new tent since the old one blew apart in that storm last month."

"Um…" Isabelle goes and takes out another file. "273,810 Bells. Should be more than enough."

"And we also need to buy prizes for everyone for the Bug-Off," I say. "Fifteen people, including both of us plus the villagers, we should probably get around two or three for each, and then there's Tom Nook and the Nooklings, the Able Sisters…" I count off all of the town's residents on my hands; I can never remember the exact number. The shopkeepers usually don't participate in events, but occasionally a few of them decide to take a day off.

"Mayor," Isabelle says, interrupting my thoughts. "This isn't something we need to worry about today. We have until the 15th for the Bug-Off, and don't even _think_ about the Fireworks Shows yet. Why don't you take the day off? I mean it. We don't have much to do today."

"Are you sure?" I ask. The last thing I want is for her to be flooded with work. Besides, I opted out of a day in the City for this. It probably wasn't necessary, though. We never have much to do at all, but I can't stand feeling like I'm doing nothing. I always have a need to come in for at least an hour or more a day, even if there's nothing to be done, just in case something comes up. If we don't do anything, we busy ourselves by reading the newspaper, books, or magazines, waiting for a phone call or a resident to come in.

"Definitely," she says. I smile.

"Okay," I say. "You win. One thing before I go, though—do you have the newspaper, Isabelle?" I have a habit of checking the town rankings that get posted in it every Thursday. For the past three months, we've been ranked the fifth best town in the Oceana City District. I'm anxious to get that coveted number one spot. The top four are tough to compete with, though. I've visited the fourth place town, LeRêve, and it is _beautiful_. Perfect apple trees all over, the town blanketed with pink and blue roses. For a town considered "average" by the citizens, we're judged very well by the paper. Probably because not a lot of other towns are being actively developed.

"Yeah, right here!" says Isabelle, handing a bundle of papers to me. I search for a couple seconds before I find what I'm looking for. Next to the number five is the name _Serenity_. I'm relieved we haven't gone down, but I want to get this town higher up on the list. Maybe the wisteria trellis will help.

I'm about to set the paper down to read later and leave, but a bold headline catches my eye. I flip to another page and quickly scan an article. I'm horrified.

"Apparently, some guy from Redbrook murdered three of his neighbours!" I exclaim to Isabelle, hardly believing it. We don't generally have much crime locally, but it has been on a slight rise as of late. It doesn't usually get this far, though.

"I know, I read the article," Isabelle says sadly, shaking her head. "It's a shame how corrupt some people can be."

I nod. The killer was a human boy named Gabriel Reaume, according to the article, who was sent to a jail after a short trial. Looking at the picture, he's around my age. It's disheartening to see people do such awful deeds, especially humans. A while ago, I remember there were two human girls who got arrested for stealing Bells and valuables from some of the animals in their town. And before that, there was arson—a girl set a neighbour's house on fire and got sentenced for life. It pains me when I think about how us humans can be some of the most selfish and immoral creatures in this world. It's disgusting, that's what it is.

I'm glad Serenity isn't like these horror stories.

"See you tomorrow, Isabelle," I say in a low voice, tucking the newspaper into my pocket and making my way out of the town hall.

* * *

 **Hi, everyone! Welcome to my first story on here. :) It's going to be written from the POV of the four main characters, and the first of these is Mayor Kelsea! Hopefully this first chapter turned out alright.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Confusion

**Chapter 2 – Confusion**

 **Viridian's POV**

Keaton's house is really rocking today. With me on drums and Keaton on the keyboard, we're giving a great rendition of K.K. Ska. If we had an audience, this would be perfect.

Cherry's told us that we could make a successful band, especially if we could recruit more people, and go around to different cities and put on shows. Neither of us really wanted to, though. Keaton didn't really want to be putting on shows every week or so, and as for me, I don't really want to leave Serenity. I feel like my perfect life is here, just doing what I love, even if I don't get paid. There was a guy who moved away months ago, Colton, and we used to put on mini concerts for the town together on days such as Toy Day and Festivale. Keaton hasn't been in Serenity long, but we're planning to do something for the Fireworks Shows in August, perhaps.

Over the din, I hear a faint noise. I stop my drumming and listen; someone's knocking at the door. As Keaton stops playing as well, I get up and open it. It's Frobert. He's a natural at the saxophone, but he doesn't really get into music that much. He's more of a workout type, but hey, I can fit in there, too.

"Hey, Frobert," I say, grinning. "What's up?"

"Just going out for a run," he says, and I can see a small plastic water bottle sticking out of his pocket. He's wearing the green gym tee that he often wears on his runs. "You going to join me?"

"Yeah, sure," I say. "Hey, Keaton, you want to come with us?" He gives a brief laugh, and I can sense he's a little irritated at our session being cut off prematurely.

"Thanks for the offer, but you know I'm no runner," he says, flipping a couple pages in his music book. "You two have fun. I'll practice my keyboard."

I shrug and say, "Okay, see you. We can continue later."

"Come on, Viridian!" Frobert says, motioning for me to hurry up. I leave everything where it is and follow Frobert out of Keaton's house. He gives me a second water bottle.

"Here," he says. "I came prepared."

"Thanks," I say, putting the bottle in my pocket. "Shame Keaton couldn't join us."

"I wasn't really counting on him coming, anyway," Frobert says, shrugging. "He only slows us down when he comes, you know."

"I know, but still," I say. I kind of like going on a run with my two best Serenity friends.

"Come on, let's not waste time!" Frobert urges. He starts to break into a sprint, and I quickly follow, a little miffed that he started so abruptly.

We follow our usual route: around the perimeter of the town, crossing the bridges at the east and west ends of Serenity, and repeated around five times. By now, after so many times of joining Frobert on his runs, the scenery is so familiar to me that I can look at just a certain cluster of trees or a spot in the river to instantly know where I am.

Everything goes by in a blur, and it's nearly silent except for our breathing. Frobert has a rule about not talking during the runs. It throws off his concentration. We're some of the only ones outside; we pass by Lucy hanging her laundry on a clothesline running from her window to an apple tree to dry, but other than her, we're alone.

We're halfway through our first lap when I notice it. In my peripheral vision, far to my left, which I would never have noticed if I didn't been letting my mind wander slightly.

"Frobert," I say, pointing. "Look."

"Viridian, no talking, remember?" he asks irritably.

"I know, but _look!_ " I say, pointing again. This time, Frobert follows my finger and it's clear he's taken aback.

The town tree, towering magnificently over our town, looked as serene as ever yesterday. But now, the leaves that were bright green have blackened, along with most of the trunk.

Wordlessly, the two of us approach the tree.

"What's happened to it?" Frobert asks. I gingerly touch a blackened part of the massive tree trunk in front of me. The area I felt immediately crumbles into something resembling charcoal and fine grey ash and scatters on my basketball shoes.

"I don't know," I say, running a hand through my dark brown hair, "but this can't be good."

If it was an ordinary tree, I would have said to leave it and continue with our route. But this is a landmark of our town, what makes it _Serenity_. Something's wrong, and it doesn't feel right to leave it.

-x-

Apparently, things are more serious than I thought. After we talked to Isabelle at the town hall—Kelsea wasn't there, as she left early—I thought she was going to have a heart attack, by the way she repeatedly asked us like a broken record if we were sure of what we saw. When she hustled outside and went up to the town tree, she looked like she was going to faint.

"I…I can't believe this," she says, as the three of us stare up at the blackened tree.

"Is there a way to save it?" Frobert asks.

"I don't know," Isabelle says nervously. "I don't even know what caused it."

"It's a shame to see our landmark like this," I say.

"It's worse than that," Isabelle says gravely, shaking her head. "This is much, much worse."

"Why?" I ask. "What's wrong?"

"We need to have a town meeting," Isabelle says. "Go round everyone up immediately. Make sure to get the people on Main Street, too, especially Leif. I'll explain everything soon."

I shiver. What's going on? I turn to Frobert, who just shrugs in response.

"You get Main Street," he says. "I'll get the others. The sooner we round everyone up, the sooner we can find out what's happening in this crazy place." I can't argue with him on that.

"Sure," I say. We part ways immediately, and I sprint faster than ever as if I'm running for my life. As I cross the railroad tracks, all I can think of is why on earth we need a town meeting for a sick tree.


	3. Chapter 3 - Panic

KatelynL1115 - Thanks so much for your kind review! :)

 **Chapter 3 - Panic**

 **Jayden's POV**

I flip open the hard red cover of _Koala Storm Caller_ and flop down on my cream sofa. It's a new book I bought in Oceana City yesterday, the first in a recent book series.

I love this sofa because it's perfect for reading; combined with the cool leather, a breeze coming in through the window, and K.K. Soul playing in the background, it's the perfect way to spend a warm day in July.

Well, maybe not.

I turn my head towards my window, glancing at the lush landscape on the other side, perfect orange trees and flowers of every colour arranged throughout the emerald green grass in an inviting scene. It feels like a waste of a beautiful day to stay inside, but I have nothing to do out there.

I sigh. If only I had someone to spend it _with_. I'd love to do something like hide and seek or a board game or catching bugs with a friend, or even just having a long conversation about random things. Living on my own is interesting, but it does get lonely from time to time.

Drat. Now I can't focus on reading my book anymore. I clap it shut and set it down on my end table, intending to read it later, and then I morosely stare out my window some more, resting my arms on the sofa. There are so many things I'd like to do, but I can't get motivated to do them alone.

All of a sudden, someone knocks on my door. I get off my sofa and answer it. It's Erik.

Hey, Jayden!" he says. He hands me a yellow paperback book. _The Train Conductor Asks_. "Here's the book I borrowed from you last week. Thanks for lending it to me."

"Yeah, no problem," I say, smiling.

"How's it going?" the deer asks.

"Fine," I say, shrugging. "How about you?"

"Pretty good," he says. "Jacob and Cherry and I just finished having coffee together at the Roost. You know, just as a little get-together."

"Oh, nice," I say, nodding. "Sounds fun."

It kind of gets at me that he didn't invite me along. I don't know why. I can't say I particularly think of Erik as a friend, but he's certainly the closest I've got. I suppose he's just closer to Jacob and Cherry.

"It was," Erik says with a grin. "Jacob dared Cherry to empty the sugar bowl in her coffee and drink it all."

"Did she do it?" I ask.

But whether or not she did I'll never know, because Frobert chooses this time to burst in and say loudly, "Hey, you guys! Isabelle's ordering an urgent town meeting at the plaza _right now!_ Make sure you go!"

"What does she—" I stop talking as Frobert runs off without waiting for us, and turn to Erik.

"What do you think's going on?" I ask. Erik just shrugs in response.

"Must be something important," he replies.

-x-

When we get to the plaza, nearly everyone is huddled around the town tree, and I immediately know what's wrong. Our town tree is blackened and crumbling, and although I know it's an important landmark, I thought the meeting would be for something more than a sick tree.

Isabelle stands on the bricks boxing in the tree, counting heads as we gather around, while Kelsea and Leif are talking in hushed voices behind the tree.

"We're still missing a few people," Isabelle says.

Kelsea stops her conversation with Leif and tells her, "Carli and Pate are at Oceana City today. They won't be back until late this afternoon."

"Oh dear," Isabelle says. "Well, since I have everyone else here, I guess I might as well start." She clears her throat and then projects to all the citizens of Serenity gathered in the plaza.

"Hello, everyone," she says. "I wish I could have gathered you here for more pleasant news, but unfortunately, as I'm sure you all have noticed by now, our town tree is sick. It's dying."

A silence passes through the air; even the wind has stopped rustling through the trees, and the honeybees have stopped their soft buzzing.

"All of us know this as a landmark of our town," Isabelle continues. "It is a symbol for us, planted the very day Serenity was founded and our first mayor, Tortimer, took office. However, what you don't know is that this tree shares a special bond with this town. Ever since it was planted, it has been linked to Serenity, and as one thrives, so does the other. Our tree helps Serenity to flourish. Unfortunately for us, this works the other way, too."

Isabelle pauses, then the silence becomes more eerie as everyone nervously anticipates what she will say next. I'm not sure if I want to know, as it seems a lot more serious than I initially thought.

"As the tree dies, our town will begin to self-destruct," she continues, and I swear my heart stops beating for a second. Some people begin to shout, but Isabelle hushes them. "And if it dies completely, all of us will be destroyed."

I can't believe it. It feels like someone knocked the wind out of me. We're all going to die because of this tree? What idiot had the bright idea of linking a town with a living being that dies? I don't want to die! I start wringing my hands in fright and try to calm down, which is difficult as everyone else seems to be in a state of complete panic as well. The silence is completely gone now; everyone is talking at once.

"We're going to die!" Erik exclaims.

"I do hope it isn't painful," Blanche says.

Isabelle continues her speech once again to try and quell the terror in the audience, which is difficult considering what she just told us.

"However," she says, "Leif is investigating what caused this sickness, and I have hopes he can come up with a cure for us." She turns around to look at the owner of the Garden Shop, who is still talking to Kelsea. "Leif, do you have any idea how we can heal it?"

Leif walks up next to Isabelle. "Well, by taking some samples of the soil and the tree bark, I'll be able to tell what occurred and how long we have until…" He gestures in a way that means "our imminent death and destruction". "And if we know that, there is a chance I can come up with an antidote for it. All I know for now is that we have three weeks at the most. I can't say what caused it until then, which may take days, but I do know of a material that has powerful healing powers and could help us in the event that I can't make an antidote. There is a very rare rock named calerite that sometimes forms in the caves near Brightside. It's notoriously difficult to find, but if we can get a search group together, we could have a chance at finding some and saving our town."

More murmuring passes through the crowd. Nothing in Leif's announcement comforts me one bit.

I look around the landscape of Serenity. Somehow, it looks more sinister than earlier. I realize that not only have I wasted this day in Serenity, but I've wasted my entire life. I've accomplished nothing, and it'll stay like that until the day I die.


	4. Chapter 4 - Passion

**Chapter 4 – Passion**

 **Carli's POV**

Pate and I sit across from each other on the train ride back from Oceana City.

"I spent way too much!" Pate whines miserably, peering inside the GracieGrace shopping bag next to her on the leather seat. "I walked in, saw all the amazing things, and I wasn't in control of my body after that!"

"I know what you mean," I say. I had bought a groovy tee and a butterfly dress, plus lunch at Café Monique and a new haircut at Shampoodle's (my brown roots were beginning to show amongst my otherwise hot pink locks). I haven't added up the money, and I don't ever plan to. "At least we got free balloons from Phineas."

Pate glances up at the red bunny balloon she's holding. "That's probably worth all of, like, a hundred Bells," she says, shrugging. "And anyway, you stole one of them."

"Well, the limit was one each, and I wanted to get Kelsea something," I say defensively. "She didn't come with us just so she could work. I felt bad for her."

"Oh, she'll be thrilled," Pate says dryly. "Knowing her friend stole a balloon for her will make her very happy. Especially if you tell her the part about tricking Phineas into leaving his cart unattended because you got a person to tell him someone had cracked their head open on the cement and he had to help them."

"Well, you were the one who told him that story, so we're outlaws together," I say, grinning and kicking my partner in crime while I clutch my two balloons, one green and one yellow. "Don't act so righteous."

The sky, while still deep blue outside, has tinges of orange in it, and it's nearly evening by the time we pull into Serenity station. Pate and I are the only ones to get off here.

No less than ten seconds after we exit the train station does Kelsea run up to us, out of breath.

"Hey, Kelsea!" I say cheerfully. "How'd it go today? I got you a balloon from Phineas." I hand Kelsea the green balloon and then shoot Pate a look that says, "One word from you and you'll hit the ground".

"Carli, we're in trouble," Kelsea says, her eyes steely as she sweeps her lavender hair out of her face. She doesn't acknowledge the balloon in her hand.

"What happened?" I ask, frowning at her seriousness and lack of a greeting or acknowledgement at her present.

"You know our town tree in the plaza?" she asks. I nod. And then she tells me everything. The sickness. The town meeting. Our town's destruction. Leif's tests. Calerite. By the time she's finished, Pate and I are wearing identical expressions, both gaping at her in horror. I wish I could believe she was joking, but Kelsea doesn't joke about things like this.

"What…what can we do?" Pate asks worriedly.

"We're going to try to do the best we can to save us," Kelsea says. "I'm leading a group out to the caves where Leif says calerite forms tomorrow, and we're going to try to find it. Frobert, Keaton, Jacob, and Cherry all volunteered to go with me."

"I'm coming, too," I say. Anything that can help save this town, I'll do.

"Me too!" adds Pate. "I want to help and stuff!"

Kelsea smiles. "Thanks, guys," she says. "We're leaving very early tomorrow. Six in the morning, so we have plenty of time to search."

I almost protest against having to wake up at such an ungodly hour, but sleep can hardly be considered important next to our lives. "Fine by me," I end up saying.

"Same here!" says Pate. "We are _so_ going to bring this town back to life!"

"You guys are the best," Kelsea says. "I've got to go home now, but I'll meet you tomorrow right here at the train station. First train of the day. The 6:03 one." Pate and I nod in acknowledgement.

I make my way home, crossing the cobblestone bridge to the other side of the river and trekking to an area on the cliff overlooking the beach, which is where I had Tom Nook build my house so many years ago. I can still remember that day when I moved to town. Pate hadn't even moved in at that time. Back then, Kelsea and I hung out with two girls named Marina and Flo. Both moved out long ago, but Marina and I still send letters to each other from time to time.

Inside my house, I let my yellow balloon float up and bob around on the ceiling. I sit down on my alpine bed and look at the matching alpine dresser, where I have a bunch of photos sitting on top of it in frames of different colours. One is of me and Kelsea together at Club LOL when we were twelve years old. The second one is of me and Pate pretending to be attacked by one of the dinosaurs in the museum—the velociraptor, I believe—when we were fourteen. The third one features all three of us on Bunny Day, just a few months ago, gathering bunny eggs and trying to get more than anyone else. These are just some of the memories I treasure of Serenity and my best friends.

Even on my paulownia closet, I keep two pictures facing my bed. One of Kelsea and one of Pate.

I can't lose any of this. I have to do everything in my power to save myself, my friends, and my town.


	5. Chapter 5 - Visitor

**Chapter 5 – Visitor**

 **Viridian's POV – July 7**

Everyone is gathered at the train station as Kelsea and her crew—Pate, Carli, Frobert, Keaton, Cherry, and Jacob—get ready to leave.

"Goodbye, everyone!" Isabelle calls out. Kelsea put Isabelle in charge of Serenity while she's gone, even though it should only be a day. I suppose it's because of the current circumstances. "Good luck! I'll keep this town under control while you're gone, Mayor!"

A bunch of other goodbyes and shouts of encouragement rung out in the crowd as the group departs.

Once the train leaves, whistling and chugging, Isabelle steps right in and speaks up.

"Everyone, while our mayor and our other friends are gone on their trip today, we'll be getting a visitor," she says. I'm immediately intrigued. "Last night, I made a bunch of phone calls all around, and I was able to contact someone who has a tiny sample of calerite."

That instigates some murmuring in the crowd. I'm confused.

"Then why did Frobert and all them hop on a train to who-knows-where?" I demand.

"Yeah!" Hamphrey exclaims heatedly in agreement.

"Wait a second," Isabelle says, motioning for us to calm down. "The mayor's group is backup for us. A woman is coming later and is willing to give us some in exchange for all the money in the town treasury. It's a lot, but she was extremely stubborn. And if, for some reason, the transaction does not go as planned, or if she's delayed in coming, or if she doesn't have enough to save us, we may need the mayor's team's help. Leif has yet to complete his tests, but he's informed me he'll be done later today, and then we'll know everything we need. Better safe than sorry, right?"

 _Better safe than sorry._ Sounds like she took a speech right out of Kelsea's mouth. But the fact that we have a backup plan comforts me. If one plan fails, we can still be saved.

I just wish Leif would hurry up with those tests already; I'm getting really anxious.

-x-

All of my friends left on the cave mission (I probably should have gone, too, but I just didn't feel like riding on the train for an hour and wandering in unknown caves), so I have nothing better to do than go to Brewster's café and get a cup of coffee for a couple minutes.

Apparently Blanche and Vivian had the same idea; both are sitting down at the table, talking about what's "in" and what's "out" according to whatever they consult. Blanche notices me and gives me a small smile as I enter.

"I'd like the usual, please," I tell Brewster as I take a seat on one of the stools and place two golden 100-Bell coins in front of him. He nods silently and goes to work.

Glancing at the clock, I make my way across the room to the bookstand, looking for something to read while I'm here. Brewster stocks magazines, newspapers, books, and brochures on tourism in other cities. Nothing catches my eye, though, so I wind up walking back to my stool just as Brewster finishes making my coffee.

"Thanks," I tell him, taking the small cup.

"…Coo," he replies, picking up a small cloth and beginning to clean one of his coffee cups.

I make sure to drink my coffee while it's hot—this keeps me in Brewster's good graces, as there's nothing he hates more than people who wait for their coffee to cool down before drinking it. Namely, Jayden. Brewster gives a slight smile—almost a smile, anyway—as he takes the ceramic mug back.

The café is fairly close to the train station, so from here I can hear the rumbling of a train as it whistles into town. The train stops here many times a day, but what catches my eye is out the window once the train stops, when I see Isabelle scurrying across the landscape to the train station.

"There's Isabelle!" I exclaim excitedly, and I stand up quickly and point out the window. Blanche and Vivian's heads both turn towards the direction I'm pointing. "The visitor's here!"

"I want to go see who this person is," Vivian says. "Come on, Blanche, let's go."

I rush out of the café, with Vivian and Blanche behind me, and the three of us all head to the train station, wanting to witness the grand exchange. Isabelle is speaking with a pink anteater.

Both Isabelle and the anteater turn towards us as we approach. The anteater is dressed in very fancy clothes—a black and red dress with a diamond pattern that she must have bought at GracieGrace. She's also wearing an expensive-looking shiny gold pin with the letters _SEH_ engraved in it.

"Oh, hello, you three," Isabelle says, beaming. "This is Snooty Estevan-Haufe. She's the one who is selling us the cure for our town. So anyway, Ms. Estevan-Haufe, let me get out your money for you…" I suppress a snicker at her silly name. She certainly looks snooty, especially with that dress and the pin parading her initials.

"Wait a second," Snooty says. She frowns as she looks at me. "You have humans here?" Isabelle pauses in the middle of taking money from her pocket.

"Why, yes we do," Isabelle says with a tone of concern.

"Yeah," I say, wondering why she's asking this. "Me, Carli, Kelsea, and Jayden. What's wrong with that?"

"My parents were murdered by a pair of humans when I was a young girl," Snooty says, and I can see the rich, higher-class aura around her falter.

"Oh…" Isabelle says sympathetically. "I'm very sorry about that. But I'm sure no one here has had anything to do with it."

"Maybe so," says Snooty. "But I just can't give you the cure to save humans. They're a poison to maintaining a peaceful society."

This infuriates me, and I can feel my face turn red. "Now look here, you can't just not give us the cure because humans live here. That's prejudice!"

"Calm down, Viridian," says Isabelle calmly, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking at Snooty. "Mrs. Estevan-Haufe, we frown upon human and animal stereotypes in Serenity. I believe all of us live a very happy and peaceful life here. We live in harmony together, and we're proud of that."

"I see," Snooty says. "But I'm sorry; it's against my principles to help humans. They ruined my life, and I cannot help you because of that." I'm about to open my mouth again, but Snooty continues on. "However… you've heard of Greyvale, am I right?"

I have heard about it, but I don't care for it much. A while ago, before I was born, species discrimination was high among humans and animals. It has since dissipated for the most part, but some humans still discriminate against animals, and there was even a small group that built their own town, housing only humans and cut off from the rest of the world. They named the town Greyvale, supposedly because the surrounding environment was covered in dust. To me, the whole idea is disgusting. So is the town. I've heard it's dirty, dusty, ashy, and just horrible in general. I suppose when you're cut off from the world, how your town looks to outsiders matters less.

"Yes, I believe we have," Isabelle says coolly. I don't like where the conversation is going, and judging by her voice, I don't think Isabelle does, either.

"I'll make you a deal," Snooty says. "If you"—here she looks straight at me—"and all of the other humans in town are willing to come with me to Greyvale and live there permanently, I will sell you the cure."

I gape at her in horror. Permanently? Is she serious? I see the hatred in her eyes and I know she is. Isabelle looks at me with worry.

"It's all up to you guys," Isabelle tells me.

"Of course," says Snooty, nodding. "I won't force you to do it. But I need all four of you to leave before I'll give Serenity my cure."

Blanche and Vivian look over at me. I wonder what's going through their minds. Do they want me to volunteer?

"I'm not leaving," I say firmly. "I don't care whether or not the cave group can find a cure. I don't want to go."

"Very well, then," Snooty says. "If you eventually change your mind and the others are willing to come, just call me."

"Yes, Ms. Estevan-Haufe," Isabelle says as the anteater goes back into the train station to wait for the next train. "Goodbye."

Once she's gone, I say, "They'll find it, anyway. We won't have to leave."

"I hope so," Isabelle says. "But even so, whatever your decision is I'll support. We'll find a way to save us. No matter what."

I turn to Vivian and Blanche to see what they have to say, but they're both gone, heading somewhere else now that our visitor has left.

Now that our backup plan has failed, I can only hope that our original plan is a success.


	6. Chapter 6 - Cave

**Chapter 6 – Cave**

 **Kelsea's POV**

We get off the bus at Brightside station; it's the closest we can get to the cave. Unfortunately for us, it's nearly an hour's walk until we can actually get there. There aren't any roads, either. Just plain grassland as far as the eye can see the further you get from Brightside, with the exception of a few tall trees and a couple flowers here and there. The cave really is in the middle of nowhere. By the time we approach the cave, I'm so relieved and I just want to lie down and rest, but I know we can't stop.

"They really need to put a train station here," groans Jacob.

"Agreed," says Cherry.

"This walk was nothing!" interjects Frobert. "You guys have got to go for a run once in a while to work up your stamina, like me!"

Everyone ignores him, but I suppose he's right. His comment may have been a bit pompous, but honestly, I admire him.

The seven of us stand before the mouth of the enormous cave and stare at it in awe.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be," Jacob remarks.

"It's massive!" says Cherry. "How are we going to find a tiny rock in this thing?"

"Come on, come on, let's not waste time," I urge, getting down to business as I take my shovel out of my blue polka shorts. "Get out your tools, everyone. We've got to find this as soon as possible, and considering its rarity, it could take hours. Remember, we're looking for a dark red rock with blue stripes, and it should just be in the walls of the cave."

Everyone complies, and I leads us into the cave. I marvel at the interior, filled with delicate-looking stalactites and stalagmites, along with a couple rocks sparsely scattered and embedded in the walls. The dim light gives everything a slight bluish tinge.

"Look at all those big cracks in the walls!" Pate exclaims. "This cave is, like, totally old!"

"We should probably stay away from the really cracked areas," says Frobert. "We don't know how fragile and eroded this rock is."

So I look around for a little while until I find a section with virtually no cracks in it. I take out my shovel and attempt to scrape pieces off the wall. Before long, everyone else is at work, too, and the cave becomes a cacophony of scraping and clanging and echoes.

It's not fun, chipping away at the cave. I was hoping it would only take a couple minutes, but I was clearly mistaken. Five hours in and my arms are fatigued from lifting my heavy shovel and scraping it across the walls, and my ears hurt from all the rough, raucous noise happening. My eyes have gotten so used to the dim bluish light now that I wonder if I'll ever see normal daylight properly again. Also, the cave is fairly dusty, and it only took a couple minutes for me to get covered in greyish dust.

All I've found in these stubborn walls are grey rocks, green rocks, and beige rocks. Nothing even remotely red or blue.

"Ugh! This is, like, SO HARD!" Pate complains, swinging her shovel around. "And EXHAUSTING!"

"Hey, if you were more in shape, you wouldn't be tired," Frobert says, smirking as he knocks off another chunk of stone, causing dust to fly everywhere.

"Hey, guys!" exclaims Jacob suddenly. "I think I found something!" He holds up a small rock in his wing.

Keaton immediately goes over to Jacob, who's right next to him. "Wow, good job!" he says. He takes the rock from him and turns it over a couple times. I can't believe it; I quickly rush over to him, thinking it's too good to be true, but he really has it. It looks just like the description Leif told me.

"Jacob!" shouts Pate as she glomps him. "Ohmigosh, this has to be it!"

The rest of us all surround Jacob and gawk at the rock, most of us speechless at the sheer elation that comes out of Jacob's discovery.

"Jacob, you're amazing," I say, looking at the rock Keaton has. "Dark red with blue stripes. This is definitely calerite." Our luck is astounding. Leif said it was notoriously difficult to find, and we found some in our first try, even though it did take hours.

"I can't believe it, Jacob!" Carli says, so happy that she hugs him. "Thank you so much!"

"Thanks, guys," Jacob says, easing out of Carli's hug. "I'm just glad we're saved and we can get this over with."

"Should we make our way back now?" asks Cherry, glancing around.

"Yeah, I think we should," I say. "Now that we have the cure, we need to get back to town as quickly as possible."

"I guess I can put this away so we won't lose it," says Keaton, putting the rock in his pocket.

"Good," says Frobert. "Now we'd better hurry back. The sooner we're back to Serenity and save our town, the better."

Pate and Carli cheer loudly on either side of me as we exit the cave, covered in dust and shovels in hand. Carli gives me an enthusiastic high five. I smile between my two best friends as I attempt to brush off the dust and dirt that cakes my clothes and my skin as well as comb the dirt out of my purple hair; this is the happiest we've been all day, and I can't help but feel their energy despite what we've just done.

I can only hope this keeps up.

* * *

 **Despite what the end of this chapter might lead you to think, this story is far from being over...**


	7. Chapter 7 - Revelation

**Chapter 7 – Revelation**

 **Jayden's POV**

Since yesterday, I've decided I need to experience Serenity in the few days I have left here. I'm completely freaking out inside, but I need to just take some time to try and calm down. So today, I'm sitting on the brown wooden bench on the cliff at the edge of Main Street, overlooking the ocean.

I take _Koala Storm Caller_ out of my pocket and flip it open to where I left off yesterday. It feels great out here in the sun, especially with the cool breeze. Usually, I'd never take a book outside—the idea of getting bugs on it or otherwise dirty terrifies me—but under the circumstances, I'm living on the edge.

I read two chapters of my book before bookmarking my page and putting it away in my pocket, breathing a sigh of exhilaration. It's starting to get good; I want to finish it today, while I'm still alive to read it.

Approaching the log fence blocking people from walking right off the cliff, I look down into the crystal blue waters below. You get a really great unobstructed view from up here. I never really realized that until now.

I think about what Viridian told me earlier today, everything concerning the visitor and her offer. I don't want to leave Serenity; who knows what that isolated town I'd be forced into is like? I doubt it would be pleasant. But wouldn't it be selfish of myself to not give myself up? If we're going to end up with a horrible fate no matter what, shouldn't we take the option that gives the other people here a better life? Everyone in town probably knows about the offer now. How would they react if we refuse? Accepting the offer would be the right thing to do.

So why am I so against the idea of going?

I sigh as I turn away and start to head back to town, trying to dismiss my thoughts. I go down Main Street and see the revolving door of T&T Emporium spin around. Out walks Vivian, carrying a couple paper bags of flower seeds from Leif's section (I wish he'd focus more on the tests than running his store—not many people would be shopping today, anyway) as well as a plastic bag with the GracieGrace logo on it. I shake my head; why would anyone shop for flowers and expensive furniture at a time like this?

"Oh, hello, Jayden," Vivian says to me.

"Oh, uh, hi," I say, surprised she's talking to me.

"GracieGrace has a sale going on," she informs me, as if she thinks I'm interested. "Ten percent off everything in the store. I picked up this gorgeous dress, but I have so much already that I probably won't even be able to wear it for a month."

"Oh, cool," I say, not knowing how to reply. I'm not really paying attention, anyway.

Suddenly, the door spins around again, only this time, Leif comes out.

"I finished my tests!" he half-shouts. "Exactly seven days left until the town tree dies!"

My heart plummets at this startling realization. "A week?" I ask incredulously. "Didn't you say, like, three weeks before?" Leif shakes his head.

"I said less than three weeks," he replies. "I didn't know exactly how long, but considering the circumstances, we're lucky we even have this much. I won't even be able to make any sort of antidote."

"What circumstances?" asks Vivian. Leif shakes his head again.

"I'm sorry, but I have to talk to Isabelle as soon as possible," he says. "I promised her she'd be the first to know anything I found out." He scurries off, moving much faster than I've ever seen him. I follow him across the train tracks, having nothing left to do on Main Street.

In fact, I have nothing to do, period. Just read my book. That's the only thing on the agenda. And honestly, I feel like I've been outside enough today, so I decide to go home and lie on my sofa.

Just as I cross the suspension bridge to get to my house, I see Lucy a little ways away, who waves me over.

"Hey, Jayden!" she says. "Guess what?"

"What?" I ask.

"I paid off my mortgage!" Lucy says excitedly. "I finally got around to it, and I get my room expanded tomorrow!"

"Oh, that's great!" I say. I generally pay off my mortgages as soon as I make enough money, and I actually have three extra full-size rooms on the main floor plus an upstairs room at this point. I'm only missing a basement at this point, but I don't think now's the time to brag.

"Thanks, Jayden," says Lucy. "It's so exciting!"

As she walks away happily, the smile I was wearing slips off my face as I start thinking.

Why would Vivian have gone shopping for flowers and bought expensive clothing? Why would she buy a dress that she couldn't wear until next month when she already knew we'd have less than three weeks left? Why did Lucy pay off her mortgage now, when she'll have less than a week with her expanded house? It all seems so pointless. Perhaps they're just really confident Kelsea's group will be successful. But then a darker, paranoid thought creeps into my mind.

Maybe they're counting on being here a lot longer not because of faith in Kelsea, but because they believe a certain snooty anteater is going to give them the cure.

And for that to happen…

-x-

"What?" asks Viridian in disbelief.

"I don't know," I say, looking down at the floor of Viridian's house. I haven't been in here in a while. It's a lot cleaner than I thought it would be. "Maybe I'm paranoid because of Snooty's offer. But after seeing both Lucy and Vivian… I mean, there's got to be a logical explanation, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," says Viridian. "We should talk to Isabelle. Maybe she can do something to protect us."

"Um, I don't know about that," I say. "Isabelle would benefit from us leaving, too. And we could just be paranoid right now. I think we should just wait for Kelsea. If anyone can do something for us, it's her. We don't even know if our neighbours are even trying to do anything yet."

"Better too early than too late," Viridian says darkly.

"Let's just wait for Kelsea to come back first," I say. "Maybe they had a stroke of luck. I'm sure Isabelle is fine, but I don't know… I just trust Kelsea more at the moment." Viridian shrugs.

"If that's what you want," he says doubtfully. "Right after they return."


	8. Chapter 8 - Disbelief

**Chapter 8 – Disbelief**

 **Carli's POV**

I can't even tell you how great it feels to step off that train into Serenity once again, back from an unbelievably successful trip. We are heroes.

Erik spots us from a few metres away and quickly runs over to us.

"Hey, you guys!" he says excitedly. "Did you have any luck? Did you find our cure?"

"We found it!" I say ecstatically. "We actually found it! Come on, let's go heal the tree!"

"Awesome!" Erik says excitedly. "You guys are the best! Thank you! I'm going to go let the others know!"

Then Isabelle dashes out of the town hall, the wind blowing her cream-coloured fur back. She looks at us eagerly and is clutching a brown clipboard.

"Mayor!" she exclaims. "Were you able to find it?"

"Yeah!" says Pate. "We got it!" Isabelle squeals in delight.

"This is so amazing!" Isabelle says happily. "I can't believe it! I have go to tell Leif!"

"Come on, let's get there fast so we can hurry up with this!" Frobert urges.

Everyone agrees, and we excitedly rush over to the plaza. Apparently, Erik was pretty quick in telling people, because Hamphrey, Jayden, and Viridian are already at the plaza, and Lucy is hurriedly approaching from a distance.

Keaton takes the sample of calerite out of his pocket and holds it out.

"Nice going, guys," Hamphrey says, nodding in approval. "Who found it?" Jacob raises his wing.

"I did," he says.

"Good job, Jacob," Hamphrey says.

Viridian and Jayden are having a conversation that I can't hear, but both of them sound pretty excited.

Lucy reaches the plaza, followed shortly behind by Blanche and Vivian, and even Brewster, Reese, and Cyrus are coming in alongside Erik, all of them talking gleefully in anticipation.

The last ones to come in are Isabelle and Leif, both with identical grins plastered on their faces, and some of the shop owners on Main Street have tagged along as well to see the big event. Isabelle steps forward and begins a speech.

"Welcome, everyone!" says Isabelle happily. "It is with great pleasure today that I acknowledge Mayor Kelsea, Cherry, Jacob, Carli, Keaton, Frobert, and Pate for venturing out into a cave to find the cure to save Serenity and our lives. All of us owe our lives to this brave group, and I believe I speak on behalf of all of us when I say that we are extremely proud of what you've done, for leading us out of the darkest point in our lives. And now I'm going to let Leif do his thing and save our town. Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone who went out to the cave. We cannot thank you enough."

There's a bit of applause, and then Keaton hands Leif the rock, who thanks him and quickly goes to work, digging out a copious amount of soil and the ash-like substance that has fallen from the tree. He carefully places the rock in the hole he's created, replacing the dirt on top of it and creating a small mound where the rock is buried.

"The change should happen in seconds," Leif says, standing up and looking up at the tree like everyone else in the plaza is, too. I grin in anticipation as I watch for a sign of life returning to it.

Only nothing happens.

Leif frowns, and soon many others are staring at him, all of us wondering the same thing.

"Why isn't anything happening?" demands Hamphrey.

"It should work," Leif says, perplexed. He scratches his head and then digs up the place he just buried the rock in. He takes out the rock and deflates.

"Oh, no," Leif says, shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" asks Kelsea.

"This isn't calerite," he replies. My jaw drops, and I feel like I just had the wind knocked out of me. _Not calerite?_ All of us saw the rock! It has to be! "It's close to it, yes, but this is actually a happy piece of revonite. You can see that instead of dark red with blue stripes, it's slightly more orange and the stripes are a bit more purple than calerite."

Kelsea puts a hand up to her mouth. Isabelle looks mortified. The plaza is silent. We found the wrong rock.

"And what does this revonite do?" asks Cherry.

"Absolutely nothing," answers Leif. "It's completely useless."

"What…what are we going to do now?" asks Isabelle.

"We have to return to the cave, of course," Kelsea says. "We have no choice."

"It took five hours just to find that rock!" interjects Keaton. "We'll never find anything in that cave!"

"What other option do we have?" Kelsea asks, throwing up her hands. "We have to save us somehow, and this is the only way."

Then Vivian steps forward, staring Kelsea straight in the eye. She clearly has something big to say.

"Actually," she says eloquently, "it isn't the only way. We had a visitor today, who made us an offer."

"An offer?" Kelsea inquires. "What offer?" Then Isabelle speaks up.

"A woman was here, and she's willing to give us a sample of calerite," she says. "She'll sell it to us for all the money in the town treasury."

"Let's do it," Kelsea says, in a way that implies that she thinks Isabelle should have already done it. "Call her back here!"

"Hold on, Mayor," Isabelle says. "The other condition of the deal was that you, Carli, Viridian, and Jayden have to go live in Greyvale for the rest of your lives."

I'm stunned. This is ridiculous. I can't believe it. Can she even do that?

"Are you kidding?" Kelsea asks incredulously. Isabelle shakes her head.

"Apparently, her parents were murdered by humans a while ago and so she's not willing to give us the cure if there are humans living here," Isabelle says. "If all four of you give yourselves up, she'll give Serenity the cure."

"Wow." Kelsea is clearly taken aback.

"I suppose you four can take your time and talk about it," Isabelle says. "Of course, you aren't obligated to go. This is a big decision. According to Leif, we still have until the 14th. I guess we don't have anything else to do here. The town meeting's pretty much over."

"Go see if you can contact anyone else, Isabelle," Kelsea says. "We'll talk about the current offer."

"Right away, Mayor," Isabelle says in her business-like way. Everyone slowly leaves right after, all seeming to just wander off aimlessly.

Then it's just me, Kelsea, Viridian, and Jayden left. We stare at each other and then group together.

"I don't want to go," Viridian says obstinately. "I want to stay in Serenity."

"Same here," I say, nodding. "Who does that woman think she is, thinking she can just take us to another town for all of eternity?"

"I don't want to leave, either," says Jayden. "But I don't know if we should, just to save everyone else…"

"I… kind of feel like we should," says Kelsea. I twist my head to look at her, wondering what on earth she's thinking. "I know it'll be tough for us, but think about it. We'll all die unless we go with it. We might as well do it and save everyone's lives, even if it means us having to live somewhere else."

"We could always go back to the caves if we don't have any more options," Jayden says. "I didn't go the first time since I didn't think I'd be much use, but if we go again, I'd come."

"If we're going to go with a different option, I recommend we do it soon," Viridian says. He leans sideways and touches the tree trunk with his right hand, which causes some more ash to crumble, and he hastily withdraws his hand. "Jayden noticed some things earlier—"

"Well, I don't know if they mean anything or not," Jayden mumbles. He tries to look particularly interested in one of the stone tiles on the ground.

"—and we think some of our neighbours might be hoping for us to hand ourselves over," Viridian continues. He looks around to make sure no one else is nearby to eavesdrop. "Lucy paid off her mortgage to expand her house, and Vivian bought a bunch of flowers and expensive GracieGrace stuff, including a dress she wasn't planning to wear for a month."

I glance around as well to make extra sure no one is around. Then I look right at Viridian. Could he be right?

"That doesn't mean anything," Kelsea says dismissively with a shake of her head. "Vivian buys expensive stuff all the time. If she's going to die, she'll want to die fashionable. Maybe Lucy just wants to enjoy her house while she still can."

"That makes sense," I say, shrugging. "But I think it's something we should watch for."

"We could just all be paranoid," Jayden says, raking his fingers through his sky blue hair. "Besides, there's not really much they can do to us, is there?"

"They could find a way to force us," Viridian says. "Come after us with knives and pitchforks or something. I don't know. But I don't think we can assume that everyone will be totally fine with us refusing to go."

"I think going with the offer is the right thing to do," Kelsea says, folding her arms. "But if you guys don't want to do that, I don't know what else we can do anymore." Her voice grows quieter, and she says, as if to herself and not to us, "I just don't know what more I can do… I feel like I've tried everything…"

The other three of us stare at each other, and I'm sure all of us feel just as lost as her. What can we do now?


	9. Chapter 9 - Tension

**Chapter 9 – Tension**

 **Kelsea's POV – July 8**

A Raja Brooke butterfly flutters past me as I wander along the edge of the river on my way to the town hall. I glower at it. Normally, this would be around the time when I'd start catching bugs in preparation for the Bug-Off coming up, so I'd have loads of practice and could present Nat with some great bugs. I'm not a fan of most bugs—I'm similar to Blathers in that way—but insects such as butterflies I have no problem with. Last month, I got second place in the Bug-Off with my oak silk moth, beaten only by Erik and his monstrous goliath beetle.

If I knew I'd be around for next Saturday's Bug-Off, I'd catch that dumb butterfly right now. I'd also be doing a lot of planning for it and using money in the treasury to do everything I needed.

A little further down, Jacob's sitting down on the riverbank with his line in the water, waiting for a big fish to come along.

"Hey, Jacob!" I say cheerfully as I approach him. He turns his head to look at me.

"Oh," he says bluntly. "Hi." He goes back to looking at the water, and I frown at his unusual gruffness. What's eating him? I guess everyone's in a lousy mood lately.

When I enter the town hall, Isabelle is standing at her desk, like usual, riffling through a thick book. She looks up as I walk in.

"Good morning, Mayor!" she greets.

"Hi, Isabelle," I say. "Did you find anyone else we could buy the cure from last night?" Isabelle visibly loses her perkiness.

"Unfortunately, no, I couldn't find anyone," she says sadly. "I called around for hours to anyone who might, but no luck."

"Drat," I say.

"So did anything happen while I was gone?" I ask.

"As a matter of fact, says Isabelle, "Cherry was just in here. She wants us to build a lighthouse here in town."

A chill runs down my spine. It suddenly feels like someone opened all the windows on a winter afternoon, rather than a stuffy office on a sunny day in July. _A lighthouse?_ What in the world is _wrong_ with her? I shudder as I realize that perhaps Jayden and Viridian were right after all…

"Oh, that's nice," is all I say.

"Until we can cure our town tree, there's really nothing to do here anymore," Isabelle says, frowning. "I haven't given up on making phone calls, but it doesn't look good. I don't know what else we can do."

"I'm planning on leading another group back out to the cave tomorrow," I say. "Although we didn't have any luck the first time, I'm not giving up."

Isabelle bites her lip and rocks back and forth on her heels.

"That's another problem," she says. "The cave you went to… it's collapsed."

"Collapsed?" I ask in astonishment. That can't be true. We were just there yesterday! "No. That's not right."

Isabelle unfolds a copy of the _Oceana Bulletin_ and hands it to me. The front page headline is in bold black letters: _Local Cave-In Demolishes Landmark._ I scoff.

"That can't be the same cave," I say. "For starters, it's not local. It was a one-hour walk from Brightside to get there, and it would take much longer from Oceana City. And it wasn't a landmark, either. There was no one we passed on our entire walk that seemed to be interested in going there. I'd never heard of that cave in my life before this whole episode."

"It's the same one, unfortunately," Isabelle says, shaking her head sadly. "You know how the press is."

"That won't stop us from going back there," I say. "We can still do it."

"Mayor, it's too dangerous!" she protests. "Rocks could fall on you or trap you in there forever, with no way out! We can't risk it!"

"It can't be more dangerous than staying here and doing nothing," I reply, folding my arms.

"Let's not tempt death any sooner than we have to," Isabelle says gently. "We have until the 14th. I'm sure we'll find a way. Somehow…" She whispers the last word uncertainly.

And I know we have to do everything we can to find a way.

-x-

The first thing I notice when I leave the town hall is that it's gotten slightly cloudier outside. Thin sheets of grey are starting to spread across the sky.

"Kelsea!" hollers a voice from behind me. It's Pate. I whirl around and see her rushing towards me.

"Hey, Pate!" I say, smiling. "What's up?"

"I've got something really important to tell you," she says urgently.

"What is it?" I ask, wondering if this news could possibly be worse than what I just heard.

"Vivian's been talking to all of us," she says. My stomach drops. She doesn't need to specify who 'us' is. "She confronted me just a few minutes ago to talk about you. She thinks you guys are being selfish for refusing to leave. She's trying to turn us all against you. And she brought up that killer kid and the arsonist and a few of those other humans from the news and says that the Snooty lady is right about you guys."

"Wha—" I sputter furiously, at a loss for words. "How dare she! This is a huge decision! And I was all for leav—"

"Don't shoot the messenger," Pate says. "I'm on your side. I'm going to stick by you guys! I think it's totally mean what that lady wants you to do!"

"Is… is anyone else angry at us?" I ask worriedly. Pate shrugs.

"I know Hamphrey agrees with her," Pate says. "But he's an old grouch, who cares what he thinks? I think Cherry and Keaton might, too, but I don't know about anyone else."

"Lucy?" I ask apprehensively, remembering what Viridian said about her paying off her mortgage. "What about Jacob?" I recall his chilly attitude towards me earlier. Could this be why?

"I don't know," the blue duck says, her shoulders slumping. She sighs, then suddenly adds something else. "We're too weak, Kelsea."

"Huh?" I ask.

"All of us, we're too weak," she repeats, staring off as if in a trance. "Sooner or later, more and more of us will turn against you. Our desire to keep ourselves alive will begin to overcome our concerns about you. It's only a matter of time before we all give in, and who knows what we'll end up doing or how we'll act." Her words make me shiver as she gazes into space; I don't think I've ever heard her talk like that before. "If we don't do something soon, someone may do something drastic."

"Go get Jayden and Viridian," I tell her. "I'm going to go chase down Carli."

"Sure thing, Kelsea," Pate says.

"We need to figure out something for real now," I say. "I need them all to know what's going on. This is absolute mayhem."


	10. Chapter 10 - Rage

**Chapter 10 – Rage**

 **Jayden's POV**

Someone raps loudly on my door, and I fling my legs off my sofa, going over to see who it is. To my surprise, Hamphrey is standing there. The black-furred hamster and I have barely ever spoken before, so I'm curious as to what he wants.

"Oh," I say. "Hi."

"Hello, Jayden," he says. "I'd like to have a word with you. I figure you're always home, so it's easier to come here than run around town chasing one of the others."

"Oh, okay," I say. "Uh, did you want to come in?"

"That'd be great," he says curtly. I uneasily step aside and let him walk inside, not used to having company. He takes a seat on my cream sofa. I remain standing.

"I want to talk to you about Snooty's offer," Hamphrey says. A feeling of dread settles within me. "Have you four considered giving yourselves up yet?"

"Um, no, I don't think so," I say guiltily, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Living in Greyvale wouldn't be so bad," he insists. "You can probably relate to other humans more than us."

"Maybe," I say. "But I guess we just like living here. We don't want to live in a town where we're cut off from the world forever, with nowhere else we can go."

"Better alive than dead, though, right?" Hamphrey asks.

"I guess," I say. "But Kelsea says that town isn't a very good place to live." This is an understatement; the way she speaks about it, you'd think it was a criminal-ridden wasteland.

"Kelsea's never been there," Hamphrey says. "What does she know? And anyway, if you give yourselves up, you'd be doing everyone a favour. You'd allow us to live."

"Well, yes, but—" I start to say, but Hamphrey interrupts me.

"Don't you think you ought to accept the offer to save all of us, even if it means a worse life for you?" Hamphrey asks. "It would be the honourable thing to do. The selfless thing to do."

"But we still have a chance to make everything the way it was before," I say. "If we can go back to the cave—"

"The cave's collapsed," Hamphrey says, and my eyes widen in horror. "Read it in this morning's paper. It was useless, anyway. You're the only way we can all survive." I don't keep up with the news, so I never came across that awful shock. Our only chance to stay alive in Serenity…

"I don't know," I say. "I still kind of want to try to find another way. A way where we can keep everything as is. I don't really want to live in another town for the rest of my life. I've lived here for years. I'm sorry." Hamphrey's eyes narrow, and I can see I've struck a nerve.

"I guess there's no point trying to convince you," he says. "I thought you'd want to show some decency in yourself, but apparently that's too much to ask from a human."

That hurts. It feels as if he punched me in the stomach.

"I'm sorry, Hamphrey, but I—"

"You're unbelievably self-centered, you know that?" Hamphrey asks. "You only care that you have to live in another town. You don't care about our lives. You're willing to bring us down with you."

"We still have a few days!" I plead, trying not to feel the insults he's throwing at me. "We can find a way!"

"You say that, but you know it's never going to happen," Hamphrey says coldly, standing up and looking me right in the eye. "You're going to let us die because you care about nothing other than your pathetic little self. I don't know why I'm surprised. Snooty and Vivian are right. You humans are a poison to society. But I have other means of getting what I want, you know. They just might not be very pretty. If you guys aren't out by tomorrow evening, I'll make sure you're going to regret it."

He leaves without saying goodbye, slamming the door shut behind him.

I don't know what to do. Every word that Hamphrey said feels like a sharp dagger in my body. He's right. I am being selfish. I am pathetic. I hate myself. I hate Hamphrey. I hate Serenity.

I clench my fists tightly enough so that my knuckles turn white and take deep, furious breaths. In this moment, I just hate everything and everyone. Anger and despair is all I feel.

I grab the closest thing to me—an empty green plastic cup that held orange juice not two hours ago—and hurl it with all my might against the blue wall. The resulting sound of the cup bouncing harmlessly off the wall is deafening in the utter silence of my room and the afternoon.

Then I collapse to the floor, bury my head between my legs, and let the tears fall.

-x-

Once I recompose myself—which takes longer than it should, and even then, I'm still in a lousy mood—I decide the best thing to do is find Kelsea.

I find her and Carli outside the town hall, sitting on a white wooden bench side by side and looking around at the scenery.

"Hi, uh, Kelsea?" I ask her hesitantly, walking up to her.

"Hey, Jayden!" says Kelsea. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something," I say.

"Is it about our neighbours?" Kelsea asks. I nod. "Yeah, I have news, too. Pate went off to fetch you and Viridian a couple minutes ago, so once she and Viridian come back, we can all discuss a plan."

"Oh," I say.

"Hey, there she is!" exclaims Carli, standing up and pointing. I whirl around and see Viridian and Pate approaching us.

"Hey guys, I'm back!" Pate says. "Oh, there you are, Jayden! Kelsea was looking for you!"

"Yeah, he knows," Kelsea says. "Okay, now that we're all here, we need to talk. I have a lot of big news."

"Can I stay here?" inquires Pate. Kelsea and Carli look at each other uncertainly.

"Yeah, sure," Kelsea says. I'm a little wary of having Pate here, but I don't say anything. It would be rude to tell her to scram.

"So what's up, Kelsea?" asks Viridian. "What's with the community meeting?"

"Four things," Kelsea says, holding out a finger for each point. "One: Isabelle couldn't get anyone to sell us the cure, so Snooty and the cave are our only chances. Two: the cave's collapsed and unstable, so if we go back there, we risk being trapped or killed by rocks. Three: Cherry requested that we build a lighthouse in town when we have less than a week left alive. Four: Vivian's been trying to turn the entire town against us!" She counts each point off on her fingers as she says them.

The first point doesn't surprise me, or the second, since Hamphrey just told me. Neither does the third, as alarming as it should be, especially after my conversation with Hamphrey. The fourth comes as a major blow, though. Not only do we have Hamphrey after us, but possibly the whole town.

"Oh my gosh," Carli says, muffling her mouth with her hand.

"Can we at least get into the cave?" I ask, but even if we can, I probably wouldn't consider going anymore.

"Maybe," Kelsea says. "We might be able to."

"This is big trouble for us," Viridian groans. "What a jerk that Vivian is."

"You said you had something to tell us, too, didn't you, Jayden?" asks Kelsea. I'm taken aback by the sudden question.

"Oh, um, it was nothing, really, now that I think about it." I say. "But Hamphrey came over and tried to convince me to accept Vivian's offer. He said it was the honourable and decent thing to do and that he wants us out by tomorrow evening or we'll regret it." I leave out some of the other specific details of the conversation.

"So that's Vivian and Hamphrey who are vocally against us." Carli says, twisting her long hair around her pale finger.

"And Cherry and Keaton are on their side as well." Kelsea says. "And I'm wondering about Jacob and Lucy as well."

"Can we really blame them?" I ask. "Their lives do depend on us, after all."

"They could at least be nice about it," says Viridian with a scowl on his face, his shamrock green eyes narrowed like slits. "Instead of making rude confrontations, trying to make people hate us, or making passive-aggressive lighthouse requests."

"I agree," says Carli, nodding.

"What can we do?" asks Pate. "The resentment is only going to increase as time passes."

"We need to accept the offer," Kelsea says with a sad air of finality.

"No!" Viridian and Carli shout in unison.

"It's the only way," Kelsea insists. "We could try the cave, and honestly, I'm up for that, but there's a very low chance of us succeeding, and we'd just waste time."

"Wait a minute," I say. "Maybe we can find a different way."

"Like what?" Viridian asks. But I just shrug in response.

"I don't know," I say, trying to think of something, some way to get the cure from Snooty but making sure she doesn't take us away. I can easily think of a couple things, such as getting her arrested, maybe, or at least held by the police until she agrees to let us stay, but I'm so sure everyone else would be against it and that it wouldn't work anyway that I don't bother bringing it up. I can think of other ways, too, ones that aren't as nice, but I'm too soft-hearted that I couldn't actually go through with them. Or at least I wouldn't bring them up. Carli has a look of intense thought on her face, though, and I can tell she's trying to come up with something.

"Let's see here…" she says, her line of sight shooting upwards to the grey sky. "Okay, I have an idea."

"What is it?" I ask in curiosity. I've experienced quite a few of Carli's ideas, enough to know they were often complex and never went quite as expected.

"We say we'll give ourselves up," Carli says. "We'll call Snooty, she'll come and give us the cure, and she'll take us on the train to Greyvale."

"And then?" asks Kelsea. Carli gets a mischievous glint in her amber eyes.

"Anyone have a spare fishing rod?" she asks, grinning. I realize her plan immediately.

"We're going to tie her up?" I ask nervously. She nods.

"We tie her up on the train and get off the train before it leaves," Carli explains. "If necessary, we can use a shovel or something on her."

"You _are_ kidding," Kelsea says judgmentally, raising an eyebrow. "You suggest tying that lady up, and you wonder why she's so prejudiced against humans? Look at that Gabriel kid who murdered his neighbours, or those kleptomaniac girls, Sophie and Hanna! How is this any different?" Carli doesn't back down.

"Look, if we do it right, we can make it work!" says Carli. "I'm willing to do it." She turns to me, Pate, and Viridian. "What do you guys think, huh?"

"I think it's brilliant," says a beaming Viridian.

"You guys should totally do it!" Pate chimes in.

"I… I guess, if you guys are all good with it," I say, not wanting to look like a coward. Kelsea sighs.

"Fine," she says huffily. "Let's do this."


	11. Chapter 11 - Captors

**Chapter 11 – Captors**

 **Carli's POV – July 9**

All of us stand in front of the train station as the train whistles into town. Everyone. Humans and animals, villagers and shopkeepers.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" whispers Pate in my ear.

"Too late to turn back now," I reply, fingering the handle of the shovel in my pocket.

Snooty emerges from the train station, still as fashionable as ever.

"Hello there," she says, looking over at Isabelle. "Do you have the humans for me?"

"We're here," Kelsea says. She steps forward, and the rest of us follow suit.

"Wonderful," she says with satisfaction. She tales out a small blue leather pouch from her pocket. "Here is the cure I have promised in return. One fine calerite rock. It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"Oh, thank you very much, Mrs. Estevan-Haufe," Isabelle says, beaming as she hugs the pouch to her chest. "You have done this town a great service. Here is your money." She hands her a large bagful of coins.

"Thank you!" says Vivian gratefully. "This is extremely generous of you."

"Thank you, guys," Hamphrey says to us. "I had a feeling you'd get some sense kicked into you in the end."

My eyes bore into the hamster like lasers, filled with loathing.

Everyone else in the town murmurs happy thank-yous to both us and their benefactress. I feel sick. They don't seem to care that we're giving ourselves up. Pate's the only other one who knows our plan.

It makes me want to go back and refuse the offer, but I can't bring myself to do it.

"Come, humans," Snooty says in a sickly sweet tone. "Time to say goodbye to your friends."

We say a few brief goodbyes, but most don't seem to be very broken up about us leaving. Only Erik, Lucy, and Frobert look genuinely sad, along with Isabelle and various shopkeepers, and Pate whispers a "good luck" in my ear.

"All right, it's time for us to go," Snooty says. "Enjoy your cure."

She ushers us into the train station, and I desperately hope that my plan is going to work.

We have to wait until we get on the train to tie her up—we don't want anyone outside to hear the commotion. Viridian and Kelsea are going to do most of the dirty work and tie Snooty up. I'm going to stand by wielding my shovel in case she gives us too much trouble, while Jayden was too skittish to handle the makeshift weapons and volunteered to keep watch and make sure the other passengers don't notice. We're counting on the train being mostly empty—it usually is.

Once the five of us get on the train, I immediately take a look around. We're in luck; the only passengers are a yellowish-brown monkey in the back and a yellow elephant near the middle. The monkey is wearing headphones and looks like he's taking a nap, while the elephant is reading a newspaper.

"Let's sit here," Viridian says, pointing to the second seat from the front.

"Fine," Snooty says. Our captor takes a seat with him, while Kelsea and I sit across the aisle—I get the window seat—and Jayden sits behind Viridian.

Now it's time to put our plan into action.

Without skipping a beat, Viridian sneaks out the fishing line we cut off of my fishing rod and immediately yanks it around Snooty.

"What the heck are you doing?" exclaims Snooty angrily, trying to free herself from the string, but Viridian holds on tightly. "How dare you!"

Viridian passes the other end of the fishing line to Kelsea, and the pair starts to wrap the line around her as she flails around and tries to fend them off. I know they're attracting attention from the two other passengers, so I quickly move over to Jayden's seat.

"Give me your slingshot," I say, snapping my fingers. The confused boy looks at me as if he's about to ask why, but decides to save the questions for later and takes a slingshot from his pocket. It's a golden one, with the end of the handle thick, round, and flat. Perfect for what I need. I just hope it'll feel enough like the tip of a gun.

"He—" begins Snooty, but she doesn't get to finish as I lean over the seat in front and press the handle of the slingshot against Snooty's head. She stops thrashing and screaming immediately.

"Shut up and freeze, unless you want the conductor to be scraping pieces of you off the ceiling of this train." I hiss into her ear. She's our captive now.

Jayden gives me a big smile, and although Kelsea and Viridian don't react in order to prevent Snooty from being suspicious, I can tell they're pleased with my quick thinking. Although guns are generally forbidden in the district apart from the use of the police, perhaps Snooty believes I stole one or something. Good. That'll make her even more scared of me.

I look over at the passengers behind us, looking at us with alarm. The elephant looks like she's about to tell the conductor what's going on.

"Come on, we have to go before the doors close," I say quietly, so the two other passengers don't hear. "You three, get off the train. I'll keep the gun on her until you get off and then I'll join you." Viridian tightens the knots they made in the fishing line, but before anyone can move, the doors close and we leave the station. We're stuck here. The four of us exchange horrified glances.

"What are we going to do now?" Viridian asks, looking at the receding village through the window.

"We're going to have to get her off of here at the next stop," I say. "We can't let other people come on and find our tied-up captor in the second seat from the front. Which reminds me—Jayden, go talk to those people back there and give them some sort of explanation."

"What? Me?" asks Jayden, frightened. "I—"

"Tell them we're playing a game," I urge, a little frustrated at our nervous companion. "Or that we're actors and practicing for a movie."

"Uh…okay, I guess," Jayden says hesitantly, and I make room for him to get out. He trudges along the aisle towards the back, almost like each row of seats is like a huge obstacle for him. I sigh.

"The next stop is Amber Creek," Kelsea says. "We can untie her, drop her off there, and take the train back to Serenity."

"Perfect," Viridian says. We enter a pitch-black tunnel, and everything goes dark. Suddenly, I can hear some loud movement and I know Snooty is struggling against her bonds. I jam the slingshot handle harder into her to give her a reminder. Just because we can't see her doesn't mean we can't hear her.

A few minutes later, after we're out of the tunnel, a voice blares on the loudspeaker.

"Next stop: Amber Creek!" comes the staticky voice. "Amber Creek Station!"

"Okay, we're going to untie you now," Viridian says coolly to the anteater. "Don't try any funny stuff, though. Carli's got the gun and she's not afraid to use it." Snooty nods.

Jayden's finally come back now, and he must have been somewhat successful with the passengers, because the elephant and monkey are both sitting peacefully in their seats.

"Get up," I say to Snooty, still holding the slingshot. She complies and we edge out of our seats together. "Jayden, follow me. I need you for backup."

Jayden cautiously follows me as I force Snooty off the train. I stay vigilant and watch for any sudden movements from Snooty.

However, a sudden flash of movement comes from my peripheral vision, and I'm too focused on Snooty to pay attention.

Someone's gotten hold of me before I even know what's going on. Their orange arm wraps around me and I scream, struggling to get loose. I try and throw my assailant's arm off of me, but I'm not strong enough.

I keep screaming for help, trying to contort my body into every possible position to heave the person off of me. I even make an attempt to bite his arm, but he dodges it and gives me a blow to the side of my face in return. Snooty is shouting, too.

"What are you doing?" she yells from somewhere behind me. "You idiots! I—" She cuts off, but I don't know why. I don't hear anyone else, though; either nothing happened to anyone else or I can't hear them over my own screams.

"Help!" I shout as I'm being dragged away from the train. I kick and fling my arms everywhere, but the effort is futile. "Get away from me!" My companions have to hear me. They must be coming. But if they are, I can't see or hear them.

Then a blindfold is wrapped around my head, and both my arms are pulled roughly behind me. I feel cold metal cover my wrists and hear a loud _click_. I try to break free, but it's useless; the handcuffs and my new captor are too strong.

What's going to happen to me?


	12. Chapter 12 - Railroad

**Chapter 12 – Railroad**

 **Viridian's POV**

"Get up," Carli says to Snooty, continuing to press the slingshot against her head. I'm honestly surprised (but grateful) that Snooty's falling for her trick. The two of them get out of their seats and into the aisle. "Jayden, follow me. I need you for backup."

Jayden shuffles forward with blatant hesitation. He obviously does not want to be here.

"Glad this is finally over with," I say as I sit down. Carli, Snooty, and Jayden all begin to head off the train. "We got the cure and we're safe."

"Let's wait for—" Kelsea stops as she's interrupted by a chilling scream. It's definitely Carli's voice. We look right at each other. What's happening?

"Oh, jeez," I whisper, tugging Kelsea down so we're out of view, covered by the seat in front of us. Someone steps onto the train and there's a loud slapping sound followed by a high-pitched yelp—presumably something happened to Jayden. I don't dare peek over the seat in front of me.

"Viridian, what are you doing?" Kelsea hisses. "We have to save our friends!" She stands up and is about to head off the train, but I tug hard on her shirt and she stumbles backwards a little. She glares at me witheringly.

"Listen, whatever is going on is something we can't get involved in," I say. "It sounds like someone attacked them all, and I doubt we could beat all of them. We'd only hurt ourselves."

"I don't care!" Kelsea says, wrenching herself out of my grasp. "I refuse to sit here and be useless!"

"You idiots!" shouts Snooty from a distance.

But the rest of what she says is cut off, because just as Kelsea stands up and I pull her back again, the train doors close and we begin to leave Amber Creek. I let go of her and she promptly smacks me hard on the shoulder. That girl is stronger than she looks, I'll give her that.

"What the heck was that?" she demands furiously.

"We can be a lot more helpful here," I say, looking out the window just in time to see a black car speed off. We don't have cars in Serenity, but some cities use that as their source of transportation instead of the train. Some, like Amber Creek and Oceana City, have both. "Instead of being in that car with them, we can try and help them escape."

"We don't know where they're going!" Kelsea screeches.

"Calm down, Kelsea," I say, but this only makes her angrier.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she shouts. "Are you crazy?"

"We can go back to Isabelle and ask if she knows anything," I say quickly.

"No!" she says indignantly. "Isabelle wouldn't know where a black car filled with thugs is going to go! And I refuse to give up on my best friend! I am not going to lose anyone!" She slams a fist into the seat. The passengers in the back are starting to stare at us again due to our raised voices.

"Look, there's nothing else we can do right now!" I say. "Let's go back to Serenity and we can figure out a course of action then."

"I can't believe you're _such_ a coward!" she exclaims.

"Well, you're a wannabe noble person who's too stupid to use logic to know where a losing battle is!" I retort.

"At least I'm willing to do what it takes to save people!" she shouts back.

"You're a moron!" I say heatedly.

"Would you guys _shut up?_ " hollers the elephant a few seats back as Kelsea opens her mouth again. "If you have to fight, take it off the train!"

Kelsea huffs loudly in frustration as we calm down, and I realize maybe I shouldn't have tried to stop her from getting involved, just to avoid her getting all bent out of shape like this. It felt like the right thing at the time. I didn't want to suffer the same fate as Jayden, Carli, and Snooty, whatever it is.

"Fine," she says, gritting her teeth. "If going back to Isabelle doesn't work, though, I'm going back to Amber Creek and search every nook and cranny until I find where they are."

"Sure," I say.

Kelsea and I sit in tense silence for the rest of the ride, as if there's an invisible force field between us. I watch out the window as the train circles around and we go back to Serenity. We managed to escape Greyvale, but we lost two people to some people in a city I've never visited before.

The day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

Finally, the voice on the loudspeaker says the name I've been waiting to hear for what feels like hours.

"Now arriving in Serenity! Serenity Station!"

"Okay, come on, let's hurry off," Kelsea says grouchily, getting up before the train has even come to a complete stop. We pass a purple duck in the front seat—several passengers have gotten on and off—and hurry out of the train and into the station.

"Good to be back home," I say in relief, relaxing for a second and allowing a shadow of a smile to appear on my face. "Come on, let's go find Isabelle."

We leave the train station and head straight to the town hall. If I didn't know better, I'd say everything looked… different from what I'm used to (greyer, maybe?). I think about telling Kelsea this, but she doesn't look like she wants to be distracted.

When we get to the town hall, Isabelle is in the mayor's chair at the back, with the front desk unoccupied. Her hair is dishevelled and not tied up like usual. She's sitting with her head down on the desk until we enter, and when she looks up, she looks distressed and upset, followed by shocked when she sees us.

"Mayor!" she exclaims. "Viridian! Is this real? What are you doing here? I thought I'd never see you again! Am I dreaming? What happened? Where are Carli and Jayden?"

"Isabelle, I'd love to answer those questions, but they have to wait until later," Kelsea says quickly. "What happened? You don't look well."

"Oh, mayor," she says, shaking her head gloomily, "I've made a grave mistake. The cure didn't work. Serenity is doomed."


	13. Chapter 13 - Prisoners

Thanks for the reviews, everyone!

Guest (Ch. 11) - Nice prediction! ;)

NewgamePlus-LD - Now I'm wondering if I made that too obvious, haha. Good job figuring it out, though!

Guest (Ch. 12) - The town tree was linked to Serenity the moment it was planted and the town was founded, so if another one was planted, it would just be an ordinary tree and wouldn't be able to reverse the effects, which is why their only hope is to heal the current tree. Kind of like how in New Leaf, the town tree wouldn't be nearly as symbolic if it was planted two years after starting the game. Hope that helped! :)

 **Chapter 13 – Prisoners**

 **Jayden's POV**

Being arrested is a dreadful feeling. Am I going to be whipped? Shot? Publicly humiliated? I don't know. I just feel guilty and fearful of what's to come. I should never have gone along with Carli's plan. I wish I didn't have this blindfold on, or even the handcuffs. It makes me feel like a criminal. Which I suppose I am. But still.

I hear a car door open, and a hand on my back roughly forces me in. I instinctively duck down much more than necessary to avoid bumping my head on the car, wherever the top is. I try and get into a comfortable position, but it's tough with my hands tied behind my back. The car itself is uncomfortable, too; the seats are rough and it's extremely humid in here.

"Jayden?" It's Carli's voice. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," I say uncertainly into the darkness.

"Quiet back there!" barks a male voice from the front of the car.

"Quiet yourself," retorts Carli. "Where's Snooty?"

"She's safe, away from evil humans like yourselves," says the snarling voice. I gulp and fidget in discomfort. "No more questions."

The engine roars to life, and I'm jerked backwards as we zoom off to who knows where. I'm shivering like crazy out of fear, but I'm too scared to say anything. Where are these people taking me?

-x-

"Time to get out," says a new voice, this one female and equally intimidating as the other one. A pair of hands drags me out of the car. They still don't take off the blindfold or handcuffs. The hands guide me along a winding path for a little while until we finally stop and there's the sound of a door creaking open.

Then we resume our walk, and I try to memorize the turns we take. The only sounds are from the many pairs of shoes walking on the hard floor. We go left, right, left, left, right, and then I lose track.

Suddenly, we stop moving and the blindfold is whipped off of me. As someone is removing my handcuffs, I look around, more grateful to have vision now than ever before.

I'm standing in a grey hallway, with brick walls and a hard tiled floor. Carli is in front of me with an orange brutish rhino next to her. Four cells stand on each side of me, metal bars covering all eight. A green bear cub reading a book is seated on a stool at the left side of the room, with a coffee cup on a table next to him.

A white-haired girl who appears to be around thirteen years old presses her face against the bars of the closest cell on my left, trying to get a good view of us.

"Two newcomers," she whispers to a person I can't see.

The rhino and the person next to me—I can see now it's a towering purple gorilla—wordlessly push us forward. The green bear cub gets up, takes a ring of keys off his neck, and goes to unlock two cells; the first one on the right, the one across from the snowy-haired girl, and the third one on the left. The rhino puts Carli into the cell on the left, while the gorilla hustles me into the other one before either of us can say anything. I was sort of hoping we'd be put together.

The gorilla slams the bars shut and the cub comes to lock me in, and I stare glumly out of the bars at the two girls across from me. One is the pale-haired girl, and the other one is taller, maybe eighteen, with long jet black hair and too much makeup. In the cell to the right of them is a lone boy, tall and athletic with navy blue hair, along with a surly expression that reminds me of Hamphrey. I can see a bit of Carli's cell, too, but she's not at the bars so I can't see her.

Then I turn away and look into my cell, and I almost jump backwards in surprise when I see that someone else is already in here, seated on one of the two beds in the cell.

My fellow jailbird is a boy with short blond hair who's looking right at me. The corner of his mouth is turned up in a slight smile that I find a bit out of place here.

"Hey there!" he says with a bit too much enthusiasm, standing up. "Nice to have some company in here. I'm Gabriel!"

Gabriel? My mind rewinds to something Kelsea said yesterday: _"That Gabriel kid who murdered his neighbours..."_ It has to be him. A human in jail with the same name—who else could it be?

In terror, I back up as far as I can from him, but considering I was already up against the bars, I don't have much room. The fear must show on my face, because Gabriel's smile slips.

"Did you hear about me being a killer or something?" he asks. I nod wordlessly.

"I didn't do anything," he pleads. "Honestly. I swear I never murdered anyone."

"What do you mean?" I ask cautiously, still clutching the bars of the cell with sweaty hands.

"Someone set me up," Gabriel says. "I don't know who, or how they got my fingerprints on all the weapons, but someone must have done it."

"Oh," I say, still not sure I believe him.

"I'd never murder anyone," Gabriel continues dejectedly. "They killed Snake." He pauses and looks down at the ground. "They killed my best friend."

This memory seems to make his eyes water, and he wipes them with the sleeve of his shirt. He sits back down on his bed.

"I'm… I'm sorry," I say.

I'm still not entirely sure I believe him, but he really doesn't seem like the criminal type. Neither do the two girls across from us, although the lone boy might be able to pass for one.

Everything is completely silent for a moment, with the exception of two voices coming from the cell next to me. I glance around the cell. It's not very wide, but it's long, and along with the beds, the cell has a radiator, a bookcase, a lunch tray, a glass mug, and a table lamp. The walls are pretty much bare, just solid grey brick.

"Thanks," Gabriel says, who looks like he's recovered. "You want to sit down?" He gestures to the other bed in the cell. I don't want to upset him more than I already have, so I uneasily take a seat on the bed.

"What's your name?" he asks. "What are you in for?"

"Um, my name's Jayden," I say. "I'm here for kidnapping someone."

"But you didn't really do it, did you?" he asks.

"We did," I say, and he raises his eyebrows. Perhaps now I'm the one to be feared.

"It's a long story," I say, but really, I just don't feel like discussing it. "It was the only thing we could do to survive."

"Why?" he asks. "What was going on?"

"It was nothing," I say, shrugging.

"Come on," he presses. "Tell me."

I don't know why, but I end up telling him the whole story anyway. The town tree, Snooty, our plan, the train ride, and being arrested.

"Oh, wow," he says. "You've been through a lot."

"So have you," I reply. "Losing your best friend must have been awful."

"It was," he says, nodding. "Not only did I lose Snake and the other two that were killed, but I lost everyone else, too. Everyone in Redbrook hates me now for something I never did. I'd have nothing to return home to if I ever get out of here. There's no one there that really cares about me."

"Same," I say, before I can stop myself. "I mean, I never had any friends there to begin with, but I'm pretty sure there's at least a couple that definitely hate me now, after what happened back in my town."

"Aw, that sucks," Gabriel says, frowning.

"Yeah," I say. "It must be worse to lose all the friends you had than to never have had any in the first place, though."

"Well, it looks like we could both use someone," he says. He holds out a hand. "Friends?" I tentatively shake his hand, partially because of the awkwardness that would result from not doing it.

"Sure," I say. This seems to brighten Gabriel's mood quite a bit. Then I decide to change the subject.

"What is this place, anyway?" I ask, looking around.

"Oh, this?" he asks. His expression suddenly becomes ominous. "They call it S.E.H."

"S.E.H.?" I ask in alarm. "What does that stand for?" Snooty suddenly pops into my mind, and I think back to the pin she had worn with those initials when she arrived today. I thought it just stood for her name. Did those letters stand for something else? Gabriel goes up to the bars, looks to his left and then his right, and then guides me to the very back of the cell.

"We're in the headquarters of the Society for the Extermination of Humans," Gabriel says grimly.


	14. Chapter 14 - Determination

**Chapter 14 – Determination**

 **Carli's POV**

The orange rhino shoves me into the cell and shuts the metal bars behind me. Another cell across the hallway and a bit further down is opened, which Jayden is put into by his captor.

"Hi there," says a voice behind me, and I turn around to look at her as the cell is locked up again. My cellmate is a tall girl with pale yellow hair down to her waist. She pushes her Gracie sunglasses up so that they now sit on top of her head like a headband instead of covering her eyes.

"Hi," I say. "Who are you?"

"I'm Emmalina," the girl says, smiling. "But call me Emmy."

"Nice to meet you," I say. "I'm Carli."

"Nice to meet you, too," says Emmy.

"So what is this?" I ask, critically examining the cell and looking at the small amount of furniture inside. "Some sort of jail?"

"Not exactly," Emmy says, shrugging. She lowers her voice to a whisper, motions for me to be quiet, and takes me to the back corner so we won't get overheard by any nosy guards that might be nearby. "They use this place to keep the humans they capture."

"Humans?" I ask inquisitively. Not just any law-breakers? And what does she mean by "capture"?

"They believe humans are a poison to maintaining a peaceful society," Emmy continues. "They want to get rid of all of us because they think we're evil."

I'm confused and stunned at the same time. It seems like there's a lot more to this than I thought.

"I thought I was just here because we tied up someone who was trying to make us live in Greyvale for the rest of our lives," I say.

"I'm pretty sure one of the people here was behind it, whether you think so or not," Emmy says quietly, shaking her head. "That person could very likely work here."

"What makes you so sure?" I ask. "How do you know all this?" Emmy takes off her sunglasses and wipes them on her shirt.

"About a month ago, I was on my way to my parents' house for a surprise," she says. "It was my aunt's funeral in a couple days, and my parents had sent me a letter asking if I'd come and stay at their place for a couple days and go to the funeral. I declined the invite. I'm not sure why, now. They live really far away from my town, and I'd have to take multiple trains to get there. And maybe just because I don't like funerals in general. But anyway, I regretted my decision and then went on the train to see them, hoping to surprise them. A minute after I stepped off the train in their town, something hit me on the back of the head and knocked me out. I woke up in some car, blindfolded and tied up. There were some people talking in the front seats, but they didn't know I was awake. I heard them talking about a whole bunch of stuff. They're planning to kill us all eventually."

"What?" I almost shout, forgetting Emmy telling me to be quiet, but I quickly lower my voice again to avoid attracting the attention of anyone from this place that might be close by still.

"I'm serious," Emmy says, a serious glint in her olive eyes. "One day, they're going to murder all of us. 'Exterminate', as they put it. They called this place the Society for the Extermination of Humans. I just don't know when it'll happen. I've tried to tell the others in here about it, too, so I think everyone knows. Not that it does us any good."

"Oh my gosh," I say, the full impact of her words sinking in. I collapse onto the bed, wondering why on earth people would resort to such severe measures. "That is messed up."

"Yeah," Emmy says. She goes and picks up a glass mug from on top of the radiator and looks into it before taking a swig of whatever's inside. "The best we can do is hope they put it off as long as possible."

"Wait," I say, standing up and crossing my arms across my chest. "That's what you say? Shouldn't we try to stage some sort of jailbreak? How many people are in here—ten? Twenty?"

"Twelve, with you and your friend," Emmy says. "I'm one of the newer ones. Tatalina—she's on the other side of this wall—has been here for months, and she's never escaped. I don't think a jailbreak is really possible here."

"Why not?" I ask. "Have you tried?"

"Not really," she admits, kicking the floor with her red sneaker. "There hasn't been a really good opportunity. I'd get caught."

"There must be a way," I say determinedly. "We just have to think of one."

"Good luck with that," Emmy says doubtfully. "No one's been able to escape from this place yet."

"Well then, maybe we'll be the first," I say, raising an eyebrow. I walk around the cell, lifting the lunch tray on the radiator and taking out a couple books from the bookshelf. I look at the silver title of a red hardcover book. _Humans: Infecting Society_.

"Subtle," I mutter.

The green bear cub comes by and is holding two trays. He slides each of them between gaps in the bars, holding them out for us to take. Each tray has a mug on it along with a small piece of bread.

"Here's your dinner," he says gruffly. Emmy promptly takes the empty lunch tray and mug from the radiator and then takes one of the trays from the bear, swapping it with the empty dishes. I take the other tray and the bear walks away, the keys around his neck jingling.

We need to get those keys.

I look across the narrow room at the other humans in this sick prison. Right across from me, a teenage girl with auburn hair and dressed all in purple, complete with an elegant hat, stares back at me wistfully, looking me over as I am her. I wonder if she has anything she wants to say to me.

To the left of her is a boy, maybe a year or two younger than the girl, who's eating the dinner from the guard. He's got forest green hair and is dressed in blue gym clothes. Looks like the jock type.

To the right of the girl are two more boys. One is lying down, probably asleep, on one of the beds inside. I can't see much about him except for his bright crimson hair. The other has pale green hair and slightly tanned skin, and is sitting up on the other bed. He's taken a book from the bookshelf down and is ripping pages out of it. He fashions a small paper airplane out of one of the pages and lazily flings it at the wall. It flies gracefully for an instant, then crumples as it makes contact and falls unceremoniously to the floor, among several other paper planes that have met the same fate.

These four people all look so different, yet similar at the same time. None look scared. None look like they're trying to figure out a plan. All of them look like they've resigned themselves to their fate.

Perhaps being jailed for all this time does that to you. Perhaps after what they've been through they just don't care anymore. Maybe they've tried to escape but failed, time and time again, and figured it's pointless to even try anymore. They all look like they've given up.

But not me. I will not give up.

The gears in my mind spin as I hurriedly try to think of a plan. I look up at the ceiling the way I always do when I'm trying to think. Our only options are escape or get our heads chopped off.

And I have no intention of letting the latter happen.


	15. Chapter 15 - Mistakes

**Chapter 15 – Mistakes**

 **Kelsea's POV**

"It didn't work?" Viridian exclaims furiously. "We went through that whole train ride for nothing?"

"The town is doomed?" I ask fearfully.

"The rock we received was revonite," Isabelle says. "It wasn't even the right rock. I'm so sorry, both of you, I really thought she had the cure."

I can't believe it. It takes everything in me to not explode at everything Isabelle says. We lost Carli and Jayden for a rock that does nothing, and we wasted loads of time with that offer. You'd think she'd know what kind of rock she was giving us! Why didn't anyone check the rock before she left? She must have scammed us! I clench my fists and grit my teeth. The sheer incompetence of these people drives me crazy.

"I can't believe this," Viridian growls.

"I'm very sorry," Isabelle says apologetically. "As soon as Leif discovered we got the wrong rock, we were all devastated. And ashamed of ourselves. I think many of us acted quite rudely towards you."

I don't know what to do now. We need to save Carli and Jayden, and even Snooty, I suppose, but now we still have to find the _real_ cure.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," I say in my no-nonsense voice. "I will go back to the cave. No arguments. If anyone else wants to join me, they can. Viridian, you're in charge of figuring out where Carli, Jayden, and that stupid anteater were taken."

"Why me?" he asks.

"Because it's your fault they're gone in the first place!" I snap. Viridian opens his mouth and is about to speak up again, but I quickly continue. "I don't care what you thought was best. Someone needs to help them, and the only one other than me who might be able to help is you. We have two tasks to complete, and we need to divide and conquer to do them as fast as possible." Viridian looks disgruntled and folds his arms.

"Fine," he says. "Isabelle, will you help me?" She nods.

"Definitely," she says. "But please tell me what actually happened on the train."

"You do that, Viridian," I say, "and I'm going out to recruit people."

-x-

The first and most logical person to ask is Leif. He would clearly be an expert on the rock, as he identified the rock we brought out of the cave. Bringing him would save us another fruitless trip.

I swing the revolving door of T&T Emporium and find Leif in his gardening corner.

"Leif," I say. The sloth whirls around and gawks at me in disbelief.

"Mayor Kelsea!" he exclaims. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," I say. "In short, Viridian and I escaped, while Carli, Jayden, and Snooty all got captured by someone. I heard the cure didn't work."

"Yes, that's correct," Leif says, sighing. "Foolish woman, not bothering to make sure she had the right rock."

"We need to go back to the cave," I say, deciding not to mention that she probably intended to scam us with a cheap and useless rock. "I know it's dangerous, but it really is now our only way, and I need you to come with me. You're the expert on this rock. You can identify anything we find, so we don't come back with revonite again."

"That's a good idea," says Leif, adjusting the weeping fig on display. "I will gladly come along with you. Much more useful than sitting around all day with my happy plants."

"Well, that's great," I say. "The next train doesn't come until tomorrow morning, so we'll have to leave then. We'll stay as long as we have to. We still have five days left."

Leif's expression suddenly shifts and he begins to look uneasy.

"Um, about that…" he says. "Remember how a couple days ago I said we had a week left?"

"Yes…" I say, a dangerous edge creeping into my steady voice.

"It turns out I made a slight error," Leif says. He appears to be a bit scared of me. "We have fewer. Instead of the 14th, it turns out that we only have until tomorrow at noon. When the clock strikes twelve at noon on Monday… we will all cease to exist."

I am absolutely dumbfounded. Furious. My jaw drops and Leif stares at the floor.

"Are you _crazy_ or something?" I screech. "What were you _thinking_? We have less than a day left to get the cure! How could you screw up that badly?"

"I'm very sorry, Mayor," Leif says, looking down at the ground. "However, if we can find a sample tomorrow, we can fix everything and it won't matter."

I take a deep breath to calm myself down. I've been on edge far too much lately, and I need to stop taking out my anger on people. Yelling won't solve the problem.

"You're right, Leif," I say. "Sorry. Hopefully we'll have better luck in the cave than we did before."

Leif seems relieved that I'm not chewing him out anymore.

-x-

I knock briskly on the door of Frobert's house. He opens the door and gives me a buck-toothed grin.

"Hey, Kelsea!" he says in surprise. "What are you doing here? Great to see you back! I've missed you!"

"Hi, Frobert," I reply, slightly surprised to hear him say he missed me. He's not the kind of guy to say stuff like that. "I heard about everything that happened since I left, and a lot went on during that train ride, too. Viridian and I are back, but Carli, Jayden, and Snooty all got captured in Amber Creek and we don't know where they went. I'm going to the cave for the cure, and Viridian's working with Isabelle to figure out where Carli and Jayden could have gone. So we're kind of splitting up into two teams. And I was wondering, would you want to join me in going back to the cave?"

"Yeah, definitely!" says Frobert. "I was actually already planning to go back to the cave tomorrow, with Erik and Cherry. I'm ready to get this mess over with once and for all."

"Oh, that's why Cherry seemed so ready to come along when I talked to her," I say thoughtfully. I hadn't talked with Erik yet, but Pate, Jacob, and Cherry had all agreed to come with me. Blanche and Keaton, on the other hand, decided to assist Viridian. "So I think we should leave first thing tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"

"I agree," he answers. "We'll only have a few hours to get that rock and come back, so we need to maximize our time. But I know we can do it."

I nod and look around at the Serenity landscape, which looks bleaker than usual. It's as if the plants itself know what lies ahead for us.

"We'd better be able to do it," I say firmly. "The fate of Serenity lies in our hands. Let's not drop it."


	16. Chapter 16 - Light

**Chapter** **16 – Light**

 **Jayden's POV – July 10**

"Up, up, up!" shouts a voice. I lift my head from the pillow and open my eyes just as the dim lights flicker on. Some scattered murmuring comes from a few other cells. What time is it? Six? Seven? It feels too early. I never wake up until eight at the earliest. I feel so lethargic that I don't want to get up, but nevertheless I get out of bed and look out the bars, where the green bear cub is already handing out breakfast. His metal necklace with the keys on it teases me as it jingles. It looks like he's carrying the same meal as yesterday's dinner: a slice of bread and a glass of warm water that tastes like air. A tired-looking Gabriel joins me at the front of the cell, watching as the guard hands breakfast to the cells across from us. His hair is extremely disheveled, and I instinctively run my fingers through my own hair to flatten it.

The jail is more menacing than last night, ever since Gabriel explained S.E.H. to me. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. I notice a spiderweb on the ceiling that I swear wasn't there last night. I wonder when they plan to kill us. What if it's today?

The guard reaches Carli's cell with two breakfast trays.

"It's going to be a _very_ big day," says the guard with an air of eagerness that gives me the chills. "If all goes well, we'll catch two more flies in this web before you go on display tonight."

I can't see his face, but I can tell he's smirking. I look at Gabriel in nervous confusion.

"What does he mean by 'display'?" I whisper anxiously. He just shrugs in reply.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good," he whispers back. All that's on my mind is death.

 _Today is the day I will die._

A motion to my right catches my eye, and I quickly focus in on Carli's cell just as the guard approaches the furthest cell on our side of the hallway.

"What's she doing?" Gabriel asks, noticing the same thing I am.

"It looks like she's poking a lamp through the bars," I say, puzzled at the appearance of Carli's face, looking straight at me with that knowing look, and the gold lamp frame. She's mouthing something, but I'm bad at reading lips. "There's no lampshade on it, though."

"What does that mean?" Gabriel asks as the lamp is pulled back inside the cell and Carli disappears. Personally, I don't see a meaning, but it has to be some sort of plan if Carli's doing it. But why was she looking at us? She knows I can't go through with these things. Why didn't she ask someone else? Why can't she do it herself?

"Maybe it's an escape plan," I whisper, even though I doubt the idea slightly.

"With a lamp?" he asks. I think frantically as the guard walks back across the long hallway for more trays.

"Wait a second," I say suddenly. "Maybe she wants us to… hold on." I hurriedly rush over to the table lamp, turn it on, and bring it as far as the cord will stretch. I must be crazy for doing this, but if I'm right, this plan is totally Carli. It would explain why she'd need us to do it—the lamp would need time to heat up.

"I know this sounds pretty dumb," I say uneasily, "but if we push the end of the lamp through the bars just as the guard reaches our cell…"

"The heat!" he says, his eyes sparkling like a pair of emeralds. "It's brilliant!"

"You think so?" I ask. "But we still have to unlock—"

"He's wearing the keys around his neck!" Gabriel says excitedly. "Look, you take the lamp and I'll get the keys off him."

"But what if it doesn't work?" I ask, my voice getting more and more panicked by the second. "How do we know the heat will hurt him? What if he doesn't get close enough? There's so much that could go wrong!"

"Hey, Jayden," Gabriel says calmly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It'll work. We can do it."

"I don't know!" I say, regretting I plugged in that stupid lamp more and more. Why did I have to go and do that? "What if you did the lamp, and I… well…" Actually, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do any of it.

"I believe in you, Jayden," Gabriel says. "You can do it. Maybe you don't think so, but I do. The guard is going to reach us soon. Let's hope the lamp is hot enough."

My heart beats rapidly as my eyes dart from the hallway to the lamp and back. I'm more terrified now than I was when I got captured. More frightened than when Isabelle told us the significance of the town tree's death.

The guard gives breakfast to the adjacent cell, and I literally feel like crying from the pressure. But I can't break down now. Not when I have Gabriel telling me he believes in me. Not after Carli sent us that message, even though I may have misinterpreted it and it may not even have been meant for us.

The unsuspecting guard goes back again, and I know he's going to get our breakfast.

"Get ready," whispers Gabriel, positioned at the front of the cell. I'm still not sure how he plans to get the keys. "Unplug the lamp."

I do, ripping off the lampshade with all my might until the stubborn thing gives way to my hand, and gripping the rest of it like I would a poisonous snake, the unlit bulb exposed and the cord flowing down like the snake's tail. I hope the bulb's still hot. I even grab a glass mug for good measure and set it on Gabriel's bed, while mentally measuring the distance between me and the hardcover books on the bookshelf. I try and calm myself down by taking a few deep breaths. The two girls across from us watch with excitement. Even the sullen navy-haired boy looks intrigued.

Easy for them. They don't have to do anything.

I slowly approach the front and hold the lamp behind my back as the guard comes into view, carrying our two trays and two mugs. I breathe rapidly as Gabriel gives me a slight nod of encouragement.

This is it.

 _I can't do it I can't do it I can't do it_

I lunge forward, internally screaming at the top of my lungs, and somehow, the lamp makes it through the bars and catches the guard right in the neck.

The guard bellows loudly and clutches his neck, letting the dishes fall to the floor and trying to swat the lamp away, but I yelp as I try and hold it there, avoiding the breaking glass of the mugs.

"Oh my gosh!" squeals the white-haired girl across from us. People from other cells are watching intently and talking excitedly as we battle.

The guard tries to run away, but Gabriel reaches an arm through the bars and grips the collar of the guard's shirt, pulling him in as he attempts to shove Gabriel off him. The two are fighting it out on both sides of the bars as I continue to hold the light bulb to the guard's body.

Suddenly, the guard tugs hard on the lamp and my left hand loses its grip on it with my right barely hanging on. He yanks again, harder, and before I can tighten my grip or get both hands on it, my weapon flies out of my hands and I look at it in horror for a second as it goes through the bars, but the bottom of the lamp becomes too wide to squeeze through, and it ends up crashing down, half through each side and the bulb shattering on the floor.

Gabriel now has two hands on the keyring around the guard's neck and is trying to yank it off, but the guard is fighting back, having one hand gripping Gabriel's arm and the other around his neck.

"If we have to kill one prematurely, I'm sure Rolf won't mind," the guard hisses, and my eyes widen in alarm. The hand around Gabriel's arm now joins the other around his neck. He's trying to strangle him. For the first time today, Gabriel looks scared and goes from trying to get the keys to trying to get his assailant off of him.

"No!" I shout desperately. "Let him go!" I try and pull the guard's hands off, but he's too strong for me.

"Jayden!" Gabriel struggles to say as the guard tightens his grip around his throat. "Help!"

Gabriel can't die. I can't let him get strangled. What do I do? What _can_ I do?

Frantically, I look for the closest thing I can use and immediately pick up a jagged piece of one of the broken glass mugs from the ground, find its sharpest point, and plunge it as hard as I can into the bear cub's forearm. Bright scarlet blood gushes from his wound, some getting on my hand, and I watch it, mortified. He howls and lets go of Gabriel, who is then able to readjust his focus to the keys and wrestle the keyring off the bear. I'm just breathing rapidly as I watch. What did I just do?

"Yes!" shouts the navy-haired boy. "Good job, guys!"

While the bear leaves the scene, Gabriel wastes no time in testing the eight keys in the lock on the other side, trying to find the one that unlocks our cell. He succeeds on the fourth attempt, and the bars swing open, a gateway to freedom.

I'm too focused on our mission to celebrate as we get out and I take the keys from the lock, as there are still seven other cells to unlock. I wipe my bloody hand on my shorts.

"Hey, kid, unlock my cell!" exclaims the navy-haired boy. Kind of demanding, but I can hardly blame his desperation.

"Let us out first!" says the black-haired girl across from us, and suddenly all the inmates are clamoring for us to help them escape.

"We can't waste our time!" Gabriel says. "The guy's probably gone to get backup! We'll have to come back!"

"No, save us!" pleads a red-haired boy. "Please!"

"Come on, Jayden, we have to go!" urges Gabriel, taking hold of my arm. He leads me to the far end of the room, to a door past Carli's cell, where the hallway ends.

"Is that the exit?" I ask. We came in from the other way.

"The guard went the other way!" Gabriel says. "We don't have much time before this place is flooded with more agents!"

As much as I want to leave now, I can't. Not while everyone else is stranded here.

"I can't leave everyone here," I say in a pained voice. But even as I say it, I know I have to. I wish I could save everyone, but I don't want to risk messing up our escape. I do the next best thing, though—I toss the keyring into Carli's cell, which is right next to me. The keys jingle as Carli catches the keys in her hand. "Good luck. Give the keys to someone else once you're out."

The words are barely out of my mouth before I think about what a jerk I sounded like.

Then I hear distant footsteps and shouts.

"They're here!" shouts Gabriel. "Come on!" We both sprint for our lives towards the door just as a herd of animals comes rushing in. I glance over my shoulder just as Carli triumphantly turns the right key in the lock and lets herself and her cellmate out. She tosses the keyring to the girl in the cell across from her as if they're playing a game of catch.

Gabriel hurls open the exit door and we both run through, while the two girls are right behind along with five animals, who are gaining on us fast, shrieking and yelling.

We sprint down the new hallway, more brightly lit than the one we were just in, turn left, right, then run again without looking back until the sounds of anyone pursuing us fade away. We can't hear anyone else coming after us now, at least, so we just stand there to catch our breath, leaning forward and our hands on our knees.

"We did it," Gabriel pants.

"Yeah," I say, not bothering to mention that there's still a bunch of other people who are still in their cells.

"Thanks for saving me back there, by the way," he adds.

"No problem," I say, still trying to catch my breath.

I straighten up and fix my shirt, and suddenly I hear some pounding footsteps and heavy breathing a distance away. Gabriel and I exchange horrified looks, and immediately we start to run again.

But as I listen closer, the breathing doesn't really sound like it's coming from an angry animal. It sounds like a teenage girl. Gabriel notices this, too, and stops.

"Wait," he says, and I do. Sure enough, rounding the corner is Carli's cellmate, her platinum blonde ponytail bouncing behind her, and soon she's huddled up with us.

"Thanks, guys," she says breathlessly. "I don't think anyone else is chasing us. There was only one guy who followed us out, but I took him down." She holds up a broken glass thing that resembles a handle. I assume it's a part of what was once a mug. I'm very grateful that this place gives us glass to work with. Where would we be without the mugs? I should have kept the piece I used to save Gabriel.

I just nod, too tired to say anything, and we stand there for a half a minute, silent except for the sounds of our heavy breathing, until I realize something.

"Where's Carli?" I ask. The girl's eyes widen and she looks around in horror as if she just realized her cellmate isn't with her.

"Crud," she says.


	17. Chapter 17 - Returning

**Chapter 17 – Returning**

 **Kelsea's POV**

I wake up to the sound of thunder.

The rain hammers relentlessly on my window as I get out of bed, my green oval clock reading nine minutes to six. I put on some old clothes and grab my gold shovel from my classic wardrobe, all set for a day of cave exploration.

Slipping on my red jacket, I walk outside and head for the train station. I put on my hood and stuff my hands into my jacket pockets as I sprint through the heavy downpour.

A lightning bolt flashes across the sky, accompanied by a crack of thunder soon after. I don't know if the weather's bringing my mood down or if it was already down, but I just feel so dismal this morning. Raindrops form ripples in the surface of the hot spring and the light from the round streetlight is blurry through the water. Just over six hours until the end.

No. Not until the end. Because we _will_ find our cure today, I know we will. We _have_ to.

I'm the first one to arrive at the train station, but the rest of our group comes soon after: Frobert, Leif, Erik, Pate, Jacob, and Cherry.

"Okay, guys!" says Erik. "Let's go get ourselves a rock!"

I smile at him as the train rumbles into the station. The doors squeak open and we all file inside, ready for whatever awaits us.

-x-

It's another long hike to the cave. It's not raining, at least, but the sky is covered in a blanket of gloomy grey clouds.

"Well, this is new," Frobert remarks once we get to the cave. I don't need to ask what he means. A large boulder is covering half of the entrance to the cave, while several other rocks are scattered around the cave. The closest is one right near my red sneaker that's about the size of an apple.

"Isabelle did say it had caved in," I say. But only part of it looks like it's collapsed. The rest looks normal. The word "demolished" from the article headline looks like it was exaggerated as well.

"We can still get in there," Jacob says, pointing to the part of the entrance that isn't covered by the boulder.

"Yes, let's go, quickly!" Leif says, leading our group of six towards the opening.

The cave is darker now, as the boulder blocks a lot of light from coming in, but it's still barely light enough for us to see. It'll get lighter later on, hopefully, as the morning progresses.

We managed to procure one lantern to bring with us, but it's a little dim. It'll help us a bit in the cave, especially as we go deep inside, where there's less and less sunlight, but we can still use all the sunlight we can get. The lantern is the same one Isabelle used when she went camping with Digby and her parents when she was little, actually, so it's a little old. I can tell.

We walk along the cave, stepping over and around any large rocks blocking our path, trying to find an area that hasn't been damaged yet. There are a lot more winding paths in here than I remember.

"Hey, this place looks good," says Cherry. I look around the oval-shaped cavern we're in. Several long stalactites hang from the ceiling, and the walls of rock are ready for us to sink our shovels into.

"Yeah, let's get started," I say. "Everyone find a good spot on the wall and start hacking away at this thing."

We all scatter and go to work. I can only hope we're a bit faster today in finding something. I'm not looking forward to putting ourselves through another grueling day of hard labour, but I'll do what I have to do. As soon as I hit the wall with my shovel for the first time, dust immediately starts to swirl around.

The only noises for the next hour are the metallic clanging of our shovels and grunts of exertion, along with the occasional complaint that someone's found revonite or some other useless rock. As I chip away at the rock, I wonder how Viridian is making progress on finding Carli and Jayden. I wonder if we'll all live to see tomorrow.

I swing my shovel again and it sticks in the dark rock. I take off another clump of stone and notice a small piece of striped rock behind it. Excitedly, I work faster and faster, hoping this will be our salvation.

I finally free the rock and inspect it more closely. Even in the dim blue light, I can tell it's orange, not red. Revonite. Disgusted and disappointed, I toss it on the ground. How could we not tell the rock we found last time was orange?

"Did you find something, Kelsea?" Pate asks eagerly. I shake my head.

"Revonite," I say.

"Drat," she says.

That's when I hear a slight rumbling.

"What was that?" Erik asks, looking upwards.

The rumbling starts again, louder this time. Everyone freezes.

"Is it going to collapse?" Jacob asks fearfully.

"I don't know," says Leif. "But I think we'd better get out, just in case."

"No one say anything," whispers Cherry. "We don't want to cause another cave-in. This place is probably already unstable."

We all cautiously creep out of the chamber, just as another ominous grumbling begins, louder than ever.

A sudden noise jerks my eyes to the ceiling. A large crack has spread across it.

"It's caving in!" Pate yells, already forgetting Cherry's warning, but it was apparent to all of us that we're in serious danger.

"Come on!" I say, and I hear a loud _thud_ behind me. But I can't look back.

We frantically navigate all the twists and turns of the mazelike cave to come back out the way we came in. I can hear the sounds of heavy rocks falling on all sides of us, and I desperately hope none of us get crushed.

As I run forward, I notice a giant rock falling inches ahead of me just in time for me to stop. One second too late, and my life would have been abruptly extinguished.

"Are you okay, Kelsea?" I hear Frobert ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I reply. I eye the massive mound of fallen rock for a split second, my pulse racing, and quickly resume my running out of the cave.

The light at the end of the tunnel draws near, and finally I'm out of the collapsing cave. I turn around and watch as one by one, everyone else emerges.

Frobert is out first, followed by Cherry. Then Erik emerges, then Leif. But then I see something that makes me gasp.

Pate and Jacob are in view and still coming out, but the arched section of the cave directly above their heads has begun to wobble.

"Pate!" I shout in alarm, but the whole thing is already starting to crumble. "Jacob! Careful!"

Pate escapes in the nick of time, but before Jacob can make it out, the stone rumbles louder, and suddenly the top starts to cave in on itself entirely. The last thing I see of him is the terror on his face before dust and rock begin to fall.

"No!" shout Cherry and Leif in unison.

"Jacob!" I shriek at the top of my lungs, running towards him. Frobert follows my lead, and then the entire group is all trying to reach the fallen bird. Pate looks like she wants to enter the cave to help, but it's too late. We're too far away to help, and Pate can't go in unless she has a death wish. All I can do is watch with despair as Jacob is buried under a mountain of rock.

"No!" I shout with horror. This _can't_ be happening.

"Oh my gosh," says Erik, gaping. I'm unable to think of anything to say. We can still save him. We have to.

As we reach Jacob, Pate starts trying to remove the rocks that had fallen on top of him.

"Help me!" she says.

"It's no use, Pate," says Cherry, shaking her head and pointing at the base of the rock pile. "He's gone."

That's when I see that she's pointing to a tiny puddle of blood peeking out from under the rocks. As the trail of crimson reaches out farther, Pate hurriedly gets off the rocks.

"Oh no!" she gasps miserably, covering her mouth.

"I can't believe it," Leif says quietly. As for me, I'm speechless and can't bring myself to make a sound. It all happened so fast that I just can't believe it. I'm just hyperventilating as I stare helplessly at the pile of rocks. No one else says anything, either.

I brought us here despite Isabelle telling us the cave was dangerous. We failed to get our cure. And now we've lost Jacob. All because of me.

I have failed us.


	18. Chapter 18 - Tempest

**Chapter 18 – Tempest**

 **Viridian's POV**

"Good morning, Viridian!" Isabelle says as I approach the front desk of the town hall. "How are you today?"

"Fine, thanks," I say. "How about you?" I admire that Isabelle works here almost all day. She works longer hours than Kelsea.

"Great, thank you!" Isabelle says. "So, I called the mayor of Amber Creek this morning, but unfortunately, he said he has no idea who the black car could belong to." I groan.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I ask doubtfully.

"I don't know," Isabelle says, shrugging and sighing. "Two of our residents have disappeared, and the only leads we have are that they were taken away in a black car in Amber Creek."

"I talked to a few people yesterday and asked about it," I told her. I count off the people on my fingers. "Keaton, Lucy, Vivian, Copper, Reese, and Cyrus."

"Did any of them know anything?" asks Isabelle.

"No, but they said they'd come here if they find out anything," I reply.

"Oh," Isabelle says disappointedly. She was hoping for something more. We both were. I'm lost as to where to go from here. We're all going to die today, anyway. Should we even try to save them? Honestly, it seems hopeless at this point.

Suddenly, I hear a strong gust of wind blow outside. The wind grows louder and louder, and I look out the window.

"Oh my gosh, Isabelle, look at this," I say in shock. Isabelle joins me at the window and she's as startled as me.

The sky is jade green and covered in dark clouds. But the green isn't the scariest part. A towering tornado looms in the sky, spinning around threateningly.

"We've never had a tornado around here before!" I say.

"This is a sign of the town beginning to self-destruct," Isabelle says, eyes sadly fixed on the storm. "We only have until noon to fix this town. It's becoming less stable and losing its grip on reality."

"Is there a place we're supposed to go for a tornado?" I ask.

"We haven't really had any tornado protocol made," Isabelle admits. "I believe all we need to do is stay inside, get away from the windows, and stay low."

Unfortunately for us, there are four large arched windows in the town hall, so we're stuck huddling under Kelsea's desk. We're right under a window, but the desk covers us, so hopefully we'll be relatively okay.

"I hope no one is outside in this storm," says Isabelle nervously as we both clutch our legs to our chest.

"Yeah," I say, but honestly, I'm just scared for myself right now. The howling wind gives me the chills. I can hear noises outside, some snapping and crashing, and I'm pretty sure some of the trees aren't going to survive.

Neither of us dares to say anything more as we sit under the mayor's wooden desk. It feels like hours, but it's really only a minute or so before the banshee-like shrieking and whistling of the wind gradually subsides and eventually fizzles out. Isabelle and I glance at each other and then get out from under the desk.

"At least it didn't last long," she says.

"It didn't come near here, either," I say, relieved.

"Come on, let's go see if it caused any damage," says Isabelle, and she leads me out of the town hall. "It struck on the east side of town, on the other side of the river."

After a few minutes of walking, we can see the destruction created by the tornado. Trees have been uprooted and tossed around, now lying on their sides. Many of the vibrant flowers and bushes have been destroyed, too. The metal bench in this part of town is at least intact, but it has a clear dent in it. I'm guessing a tree flew into it.

There's only one building in this area on the edge of town—Lucy's house. It has a smashed window.

"Oh my!" Isabelle gasps, putting a hand over her mouth. "This is awful!"

The two of us rush into Lucy's house. Isabelle enters with noticeable trepidation. What if Lucy was killed?

None of the furniture has been thrown around, but leaves and broken glass are everywhere. I haven't been in her house since she paid off her mortgage, but her room is definitely bigger. Lucy herself is crouched next to an antique clock.

"Lucy?" Isabelle asks worriedly. "Are you alright?" Lucy looks at us, and I can see a piece of broken glass in her arm along with a foul-looking cut on her leg, both wounds oozing blood. _Gnarly_ , as Frobert would call it.

"Isabelle… you're here!" she says breathlessly, her eyes opening wearily.

"We need to get you to the hospital!" exclaims Isabelle.

"What about Carli and Jayden?" I ask. "We have to get them as well."

"Lucy's health is most important right now," Isabelle says. "Carli and Jayden might not be in immediate danger, but she could. Come on, Lucy, can you stand up?"

"Yeah, I can," she says, and she does more quickly than I expected.

"Alright, we're going to get you on the train to Oceana City," Isabelle says. "It's got the closest hospital. Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I'm not hurt that badly," Lucy says, seemingly not wanting Isabelle to dote on her. "It's just a cut and some glass. Nothing's broken, at least."

"Nevertheless, let's not take any chances," says Isabelle. "In these times, who knows what could go wrong. Those could get infected. Viridian, you can take over on finding Carli and Jayden while we're gone. Hopefully we won't take long."

Great. Now I'm the replacement for the replacement mayor. Only for a few hours as Isabelle goes off on a futile task, but still. I kind of admire her wanting to help everyone even when we'll all be killed anyway.

I follow the two of them out as they leave. If this is what happens now, what will happen later as the clock ticks down to noon?

-x-

Lucy and Isabelle have left for the train station, and I wander aimlessly around town. There really is nothing I can do to help. Perhaps they'll just have to escape on their own.

Then I see Keaton approaching me.

"Hey, Viridian!" he calls out.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"I think I know where Carli and Jayden are," he says eagerly.

"You do?" I ask excitedly. "How'd you find out?"

"When you told me the details about what happened on the train yesterday, I sent a letter to my pen pal in Amber Creek to see if he'd have any idea where Jayden and Carli could have been taken," Keaton explains. "I got a reply from him this morning and he says that there's a place near Riverview where they might be. He saw a car go through his town and stop near the woods one day, and he followed them to find that place. They were some weird guys, intimidating enough that he didn't want to cause trouble. I don't think he knows what it is or that anyone else even knows it's there, but it's all we've got."

"Hmm," I say thoughtfully. "You're right. If there's even a chance they might be there, maybe we need to go."

"We should rescue them sooner than later," Keaton says. "Let's go as soon as we can."

"All right," I say. "Let's go round up some people."

-x-

We managed to persuade Blanche, Hamphrey, and a very reluctant Vivian to come along with us. None of them are the best company, but there's safety in numbers.

The train ride is mostly quiet, and I keep track of the stops we hit. Amber Creek, which started this mess. Then LeRêve, then Stardust, then Brightside. When we stop at Brightside, I notice that among the people boarding the train is a familiar purple-haired girl.

"Kelsea!" I shout.

"Viridian!" Kelsea exclaims. She looks around. "Keaton! Blan—what are you all doing here?"

"We're going to the place where we think Jayden and Carli are!" I say. Kelsea sits down in the seat across form me.

"Really?" she asks, her sea-blue eyes bugging out. "That's… wonderful." Her face falls suddenly.

"How did the rock hunting go?" I ask eagerly. From her expression, I can tell I'm in for some bad news.

"We didn't get it," she says. "The chamber we were in collapsed, and when we tried to escape, Jacob… he… didn't make it." She looks like she's about to cry. Kelsea _never_ cries.

"Oh," I say. I wish I could say something more. But when you find out someone's dead, you're often at a loss for words. At least, that's what happens to me. My stomach knots up, though, and I feel pretty awful about this whole thing. I can't believe someone from Serenity is actually gone. I try and think back to the last time I saw him. I had no idea that I'd never see him again. We didn't even get to say goodbye.

But as cold-hearted as it sounds, we don't have time to grieve now. We can save it for later.

Kelsea looks at everyone else on the train to take her mind off the recent tragedy.

"Where's Lucy?" she asks.

"A tornado hit while you guys were gone," I reply. Kelsea gasps.

"Is she…" she starts, but she can't finish her sentence.

"She's not dead," I say. "But she had a few injuries when the tornado got near her house, so Isabelle took her to the hospital on a different train. I don't think it's anything too serious."

"Oh," she says. "Well, I hope she'll be fine. At least it's not too bad. But a _tornado?_ "

"It's the start of the town self-destructing," I say. Kelsea nods.

"Huh," she says, as if she expected this. "So where is this place we're going to, anyway?"

"Riverview," I say. "But is there any point in going now?" Kelsea shrugs, defeated.

"I don't know," she says. "We spent ages in the cave, found nothing, and Jacob… we can't go back. But it doesn't feel right to leave Carli and Jayden out there, not knowing they'll both be killed."

"They'll be safe, though, won't they?" I ask. "If we all stay away, the town can't destroy us." I've been thinking this for a while, actually. I don't know why I never tried to leave. I guess I just didn't want to yet. I always clung on to the hope that I wouldn't have to leave. That I could stay in Serenity forever.

"It doesn't work like that," Kelsea says, crushing my last hope. The train stops and the voice on the speaker announces that we've arrived in Sunglow. "Maybe we can't be killed with a tornado out here, but our lives are tied to that tree. Isabelle explained it to me. Every time someone moves in or out, the links between the people and the town are made and broken. When it started dying, the tree was frozen, in a sense, and so even if we all moved out, at the end, when the last inch of Serenity is destroyed, we'll be dead anyway. We can't run."

"That's lovely," I say sarcastically, folding my arms across my chest.

"It's the truth," Kelsea says, shrugging. "But I guess if we all go down, I want to go down together. To say goodbye to each other one last time. As a family. Does that sound silly to you?"

"A little," I admit. But I suppose I can see where she's coming from. "So we're all just giving up? Just like that?" Kelsea bites her lip. She doesn't like people insinuating she's giving up. She has the most perseverance out of everyone I know.

"I wouldn't put it like that," she says. "I suppose I'm kind of hoping for a miracle. We've tried everything, but I have to believe we'll get out of this okay. There has to be another way. We're good people. No matter what happens, we'll be fine. Maybe Isabelle has been wrong this whole time and we never were in any danger. Maybe Leif's results were wrong. Maybe Serenity won't be destroyed. And if that happens and we don't rescue Carli and Jayden, well, they'll never be able to come back. It's better to do something, because maybe, just maybe, it'll all work out." She pauses and looks at the ceiling of the train. "Wishful thinking, but it's always possible…"

"We'll see," I say, but I actually find Kelsea's words inspiring.

After a few more stops, we reach Riverview.

"This is it," I say. "Time to go save some folks."

"Do you know where this place is, Keaton?" Kelsea asks.

"I have a vague idea," he replies. "My pen pal wasn't able to tell me everything, but he gave me a couple directions. It's a bit of a hike. Far from the locals, hidden away in a forest or something."

"That's fine," Frobert says. "Getting my daily workout twice in a day."

"Ugh, not more walking," Pate whines. "I'm so tired!"

"You want to save Carli and Jayden, don't you?" Kelsea asks. Pate just huffs in response, and we set off.

-x-

Ten of us stand in front of the concrete building. It's not tall, but it's long, and it has no windows from what I can see. It looks miserable, but exactly the sort of place I'd imagine for a place where captive people are held.

"What do we do now?" Hamphrey asks.

"I guess we just go inside, right?" Erik suggests. "They're both probably in a room somewhere in there."

"But we don't know where either one is!" Blanche interjects. "We'll have to search the whole thing!"

"There's probably going to be security alarms, too," Kelsea says, examining the building carefully.

"Wait, there's someone coming out!" Cherry exclaims, pointing. I notice the hot pink hair.

"Carli!" Pate and I exclaim at the same time. A couple of us cheer as she comes out, and we all rush to meet her. It's Carli, all right. Pate and Kelsea hug her at the same time.

"Hey, guys!" Carli says, grinning. "What a surprise to find you here. How'd you find out where I was?"

"Keaton knew," Cherry says. "Where's Jayden?"

"He's still in there," Carli says. "I just barely managed to escape by myself, but I don't know where he is."

"Let's go get him!" Kelsea says. "Then we'll tell you both all about what's happened while you were gone." Don't want to burden her before we have to.

"Okay," she says, nodding. "There's a lot of guards in there, but if all of us stick together, we might be able to take them. We've got the numbers."

"Let's go," Frobert says determinedly. We enter the ominous building, the door shutting behind us with a loud _clank_.

"All right, let's go down here…" Carli says, leading us down a jumble of hallways. No wonder Jayden hasn't escaped yet. He's probably lost.

Then, Carli stops suddenly as a figure steps out in front of us. It's a white tiger with grey markings. He has red around his eyes, which gives him a sort of demonic look against a solid grey background. He smiles menacingly.

I turn around, where three animals appear. One is a tall navy blue bear with orange scars on his forehead, one is an orange rhino with a scar below his horn, and the other is an unscarred pink anteater wearing fancy clothes. _Snooty!_ What's she doing here? Was she in on this the whole time? Based on her expression and the way she's folding her arms triumphantly, the answer is a big _yes_.

We're trapped.

I look back at the tiger, who then says three words that give me the chills.

"Well done, Carli."


	19. Chapter 19 - Tables

**Chapter 19 – Tables**

 **Carli's POV**

The bronze key turns in the lock and I almost can't believe it. I'm laughing at our freedom once the bars swing open.

'Yes!" cheers Emmy. "We're free!" As I hold the keys, she's got both of our mugs, which I decided we should grab once I saw how Jayden (of all people!) used it as a weapon. It's the best we've got against anyone who might come in.

"We've got to hurry!" I say. "They're here!" Sure enough, a bunch of animals come rushing into the room. I toss the keyring with an underhand throw to the girl dressed all in purple in the cell across from me. She has no chance of getting out at this point, but what else can I do?

Jayden and his cellmate are already gone by the time we get out. Emmy and I make a mad dash for the front door as the girl in purple frantically tries a key. The guards reach her and one of them rips the keyring out of her hand. She screams as she tries to reach for it through the bars, but the green goat with the keys holds them tantalisingly out of reach. Someone from one of the other cells—I can't tell who—throws their lunch tray at one of the animals. They miss, though, and the tray clatters to the floor.

Emmy is just ahead of me, and I set my sights on the door as we get closer. She opens the door, runs through, and I'm so close to getting there—

And then someone grabs hold of my shirt and pulls me back. I gasp, stumble, and I watch in despair as the door shuts, closing off my only way to freedom.

"Nice try," the person hisses. I turn to see the orange rhino that escorted me in here. I realize Emmy still has the mugs, and I grit my teeth in frustration. "But it wasn't enough."

The other prisoners take a leaf out of the tray-thrower's book, as the jock kid throws a hardcover book at two animals rushing past me and the person across from him (I think Emmy said Tatalina?) launches a mug. The mug misses, but the book connects with the head of one animal, and he stumbles. I pray that Emmy and the others don't get themselves caught.

The rhino latches on to my left arm while a navy blue bear takes hold of my right. They don't throw me back in my cell like I expected. Instead, they march me down the hallway, past all the remaining prisoners who gawk at me. I decide not to fight, knowing it will only make things worse. No one throws anything else, either. I guess they know it won't help me. I'm outnumbered. Are they going to punish me for attempted escape?

After about a minute of walking, we reach a door. A grey heavy-looking one, matching the rest of the building.

Inside, the rhino and bear make me sit in a black leather chair. It's comfortable, but I find it hard to relax right now. Still, luxury treatment. Across from me sits a white tiger who regards me sternly.

"Carli Johnson," he says slowly and thoughtfully. I don't ask how he knows my last name. I remain silent. "Do you know why you're here?"

How am I supposed to know that?

"I tried to escape?" I suggest. The tiger smirks.

"Actually, that was a part of it, yes," the tiger says, nodding. "I hadn't intended to use you, but when I heard of how you and your friends sprung a jailbreak, you gave me an idea."

"What?" I ask, knowing that's exactly what he wants me to say.

"Your friends are coming here to rescue you and Jayden," he replies. "Including Kelsea and Viridian. I want you to help me capture them."

"What?" I ask again, but this time in an incredulous tone instead of one of curiosity. "Why would I help you?"

"Because if you help me, I'll spare you from what every other human in this building is going to face this afternoon," the tiger says. "I was hoping to wait until we'd captured a few more humans, but my agents are getting restless. They want to see blood, and satisfying them will make them more motivated and efficient on future jobs. If you refuse to help, we can kill you right here. One human going down early to show a little taste of what's to come." He laughs briefly. "It's entirely your choice."

My first instinct is to say no. Never in a million years would I help him. But I bite my tongue as I analyze the seriousness of the situation. Kelsea and Viridian and the others are coming to save us. I can betray them and live or refuse and die.

When I was little, my parents would read me these books on kids going on adventures and saving the world and all that. Heroes. I always wanted to be like them, and I remember telling my parents so. But now, when I'm faced with this horrible choice, being heroic isn't quite as appealing. I know the protagonists of the books I grew up with would choose to sacrifice themselves, maybe finding a way to save everyone at stake and managing to survive. I'm good at forming plans, but not always at the right time, and they never work out how I want. My scheme to take out Snooty and get back to Serenity unharmed didn't help us. By the time I thought of using the lamp as a weapon against the guard, he was already at my cell. At least Jayden and his cellmate had enough time to take action, to let the lamp heat up sufficiently, but that just got me in a worse position.

I'm pretty sure that, if Jayden or Viridian was in my situation, they'd be thinking the exact same thing. I bet both of them would choose to save themselves. As for Kelsea, I could see her choosing the other option, but who knows? And anyway, I'm not like Kelsea.

I then remember how everyone else in Serenity wanted us banished to Greyvale for eternity in exchange for saving themselves, and how much I was disgusted by them.

Life has a sickening way of turning the tables on you.

Now I can really see where they were coming from when Vivian and Hamphrey and the others started turning on us. And if I go through with this, maybe it'll just emphasize the whole humans-are-selfish-and-evil belief.

"What would I end up doing?" I ask, stalling for time. The longer I keep talking, the longer I have to make up my mind. The longer Kelsea has to get here and save us before these people even know what's coming. The tiger seems pleased that I'm not shutting down his offer right away.

"You would go out to meet your friends and tell them that you escaped," the tiger says. "You'd lead them inside, telling them you know where Jayden is, and bring them right to my door here. A lot easier than trying to capture a bunch of people running wild."

"Oh," I say.

"But no funny business," the tiger warns, pointing a finger at me. "We'll be watching." I nod as I consider the dilemma.

I hate this. I'd rather be back in my cell. Obviously, I don't want to die, but could I live with the guilt of betraying my friends? Surely we can find a way out of whatever I'd get ourselves into. We always do.

I'm smart enough to know that if I refuse and the tiger kills me, he'll find a way to capture the townsfolk anyway, even if it is harder and more time-consuming than me luring them in. He wouldn't just let them be because _I_ refuse to cooperate. And somehow, pondering this makes my decision a lot clearer.

"Fine," I say briskly. "I'll do it." A triumphant smile slides across the tiger's face.

"Wonderful," he says. "I knew you would. Now, it's time for you to go meet your friends."

"One more question," I say quickly.

"What?" the tiger asks.

"Where's Snooty?" I ask. "Was she really captured?"

"Does this answer your question?"

I spin my chair around to face the entrance of the room. The nauseating pink anteater is standing there. The letters SEH are glinting off her outfit, which is now very official as opposed to the garish thing I saw her in last. It just looks absurd to me, like the idea of a chatty Brewster or Blathers in a sombrero. Now I remember the name Emmy told me yesterday. The Society for the Extermination of Humans.

"You," I say as I stand up, my voice filled with hatred. I was already 95% sure she was a part of this after my talk with Emmy, but I was never certain until now. I can't believe I even thought for a moment she was a victim.

"You put up quite a fight on that train," she says. "If I hadn't sent a signal out"—At this she reveals a long clip-on device on her belt, with a number of buttons that would take me several minutes to count—"you may have succeeded in dumping me off in Amber Creek. If only the idiots who set up the ambush had brought enough people and were smart enough to capture your other two friends there, we'd have all four of you and you wouldn't be here right now."

"So that whole story about your parents being killed by humans…" I say. "That was all made up?"

"On the contrary, that was very real," she says. "That's why I joined in Rolf here's mission, to capture humans by having them arrested and banished to turn everyone against them, and then execute a bunch to create the start of a world where you humans will be hated by all. Unfortunately for you, the cure I gave you was not as real as my story."

I gape at her in disbelief. We never even got the cure? She continues.

"Don't look so surprised. We were the ones who poisoned your precious tree in the first place. Why would we fix it?"

My mind is a whirl as I think back to everything that happened before I came here. _Poisoned?_

"Enough talking, Snooty," the tiger—Rolf—snaps. "No need to spill the beans about everything."

"There are still three of us that escaped," I say haughtily. "They'll save us."

"We've captured them already," says Rolf, smiling smugly. "You don't think three kids can outrun my agents, do you?" My heart drops. He has to be lying. He must. "Spike, Groucho—let's get a move on."

The rhino and bear take me out of the chair and escort me out of the room.

I am no hero. I am leading my friends into danger.

What have I done?


	20. Chapter 20 - Mission

**Chapter 20 – Mission**

 **Jayden's POV**

"She's gone!" says the new girl in shock.

"You didn't notice?" asks Gabriel.

"I was so busy getting rid of the guy chasing me and running for my life!" the girl says in distress. "I just… forgot about her."

"She must have been grabbed by one of those thugs," says Gabriel.

"Do you think they're still after us?" I ask worriedly, looking down the hallway intently. Carli… what's going to happen to her? Will they kill her? I bite my lip as I picture those thugs beating Carli up in a dark alley and leaving her broken and bleeding out alone.

"Probably," the girl says quietly. "I don't hear anyone, though."

"We probably lost them in this stupid labyrinth," Gabriel says, straightening up. "Let's not let them catch up."

"This is a dead end," I point out as I come to this realization myself. I thought it would turn again, but it just ends in a single room at the end of the hall.

"Let's go in there, then," the girl says, heading towards the room. Gabriel and I follow her. "I'm Emmy, by the way."

"I'm Gabriel," says Gabriel. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Jayden," I say. Emmy pushes down on the door handle. It doesn't budge.

"Locked," she says.

"Well, we can't go back," Gabriel says. "Not if there's people out there looking for us." I peer through the window of the door.

"There's another door back there!" I say. "On the left side. Maybe we can get out that way!"

"Wait," Gabriel says. "Emmy. Give me that bobby pin in your hair." She complies, and Gabriel inserts it in the keyhole, jiggling it in every possible direction.

"Have you picked a lock before?" I ask.

"No, but I have an idea of the method," he replies. "Not many to pick where I lived." He jiggles it some more, then gradually slows down. "I think I'm close." Now he's just rotating it slightly but firmly.

 _Click_.

"Yes!" he whispers triumphantly. Gabriel victoriously swings the door open and we all rush inside.

"Here you go," he says, handing back Emmy's black bobby pin.

"Thanks," she says, putting it back in her hair. "Nice job."

"Yeah, great job!" I say in agreement. This new room is structured like an office, with a long chocolate-coloured desk and black spinning chair, a small white filing cabinet with four drawers, a computer, a large brown cubby, with most of the compartments filled with a bunch of random things, two wooden stools, and a black telephone—the cool retro kind with the dial on it. There's a silver, modern-looking clock on the wall, too. It reads seven minutes past nine. Nine o'clock! Why was I thinking it was six or seven? I guess when you're stressed about being in a prison that wants to kill you and have beds that make you feel like you're sleeping on a door, you're always tired when you wake up. What time did I go to sleep last night? My internal clock is all messed up.

I look at the next door, the one on the left side. The glass in the door lets me see through to the landscape outside. This is an exit.

"Hey, look at this," Emmy says. She's looking at the cubby. Each compartment has a sign at the front. She takes out a few green furniture leaves, along with a bug net, from one of the compartments, and reads the sign in front of it. "Human Emmy Pereira's inventory. Captured April 18, 2017 in Greenbourne."

"What?" exclaims Gabriel. "Is this… is this where they put all the stuff they take from us?"

Curious, I examine the cubby as well. I know what I'm looking for. I find it in one of the lower cubbies. Not only is the cubby with the sign with my name on it in there, but Carli's is just to the left. I grin as I take out the shovel from my cubby and hold it out. Then I put everything else back in my pocket where it belongs. Everything is there except for the fifty or so thousand Bells I had at the time. Not only are they a killing organization, but they're thieves, too. I'm fuming inside, but I'm more focused on getting all my other stuff back. I put Carli's stuff in my pocket, too, including her ruined fishing rod and my slingshot she borrowed on the train; I bet she'd like to have her stuff back as well.

"It feels great to have my stuff back again," Emmy says, admiring her net like it's one of the paintings in the Serenity museum or something. Her glass handle has been set down on the desk.

"Yeah," Gabriel agrees as he pockets the long fishing rod from his cubby. He notices an axe on a higher shelf and takes it, too. I stare at him and frown.

"We might need this if we come up against one of them," he says defensively. "Better than a lamp and a mug." I can't disagree with that.

We've cleaned out all three of our cubbies, plus Carli's. I eye an axe in a different cubby, from someone named Marco Burke, but decide to settle for my shovel. Less bloodshed potential. Gabriel takes it, though, along with three extra shovels.

"Whoa," I say, as I notice another sign that catches my eye, in between Carli's cubby and Gabriel's. I read it out loud, stunned. "Calerite rock. Taken from Jacob Falon from Serenity. July 7, 2017."

"Is that the thing you guys traded yourselves for?" Gabriel asks.

"Yeah," I say breathlessly. I pick it up carefully, like I would a fragile glass sculpture, and cradle it in my hands. It's undeniably red; the same deep colour as the cherries that grow back home. I can't believe it. "Why would they steal it, though?"

"They must not have wanted the town saved," Gabriel says, shrugging.

"But they never even found this," I say. "Jacob just found revonite. Unless…"

"It must have gotten swapped out somehow," Emmy says, who I'm guessing knows my story as she spent the night with Carli. It gives me the shivers to think about how that could have possibly been done.

"I'm taking this, too," I say, gently adding the rock to my already nearly-full pockets. "I don't think that Snooty lady gave the town the cure at all." Placing it in my pocket just makes me more nervous, an extra responsibility I have to carry. But I'm not leaving it here, and I don't want to give it to Gabriel or Emmy.

It feels almost too good to be true. We're not doomed after all. We give ourselves a short, well-deserved break from the action to recover, with Gabriel taking a seat on the spinning chair and Emmy and I sitting down on the stools.

"This is just so crazy right now," Emmy says.

"I know," says Gabriel, shaking his head. "That whole escape business still has my heart racing. I can't believe no one's coming after us."

"Do you think they will?" I ask nervously.

"Considering no one's here right now, I think we'll be safe for at least a little bit," says Gabriel, rotating his chair slightly back and forth. "Besides, we have an exit there. We can just run if we need to."

"So what do we do next?" I ask. Emmy groans.

"I have no idea," she says. "We're going to just have to figure out everything as we go along."

I don't have a clue, either. I don't even know what town we're in. How are we supposed to get home?

"Ready to move on?" Gabriel asks after a bit, looking at both of us.

"Onwards," Emmy says, going over to the exit door and pushing it open. We eagerly run outside, winding up in a grassy field that's almost empty except for the sparse flowers, trees, and weeds. We stand outside for a bit, taking in the scenery, as drab as it is. I didn't know if I'd ever see daylight again.

"So how are we going to go back and save all the people left behind?" Emmy asks, uttering the question I was most afraid of. It was a struggle enough to get out of the building in the first place. I have no desire to go back in anytime soon. This is our only chance at escaping unscathed, but I don't want to be the jerk that suggests saving themselves and leaving the others to die.

"Are they even saveable?" I ask. "What if they're… already dead after our escape?" A knot forms in my throat once again at the thought of Carli, who I've known for years, dying, lying blanched and lifeless on the floor of her cell. No. She has to be alive. I know she is. She's a fighter. She'd be much better at saving people than I am.

"Don't say that," says Gabriel. "We have to try. We're armed now." He wields his axe threateningly like a sword and brandishes it around, as if he's expecting attackers to shoot up from behind the trees at any moment.

"Careful," I say, uneasily watching his axe-flourishing. "You might take our heads off with that thing." Without warning, Gabriel then swings the axe right in my direction. He stops well before the blade would hit my eyeball, but I still yelp in fright before jerking backwards, covering my eye to verify it's not scratched or bleeding and then clutching my heart. Both he and Emmy giggle as he lowers the axe down to his side. "Don't _do_ that!" I say angrily, although I would have thought it funny if it happened to someone else. Besides, this is no time for levity.

"You scream like a girl," Gabriel says teasingly, nudging me gently in the ribs. I flush red with embarrassment.

"Shut up" is the only response I can come up with. It isn't generally something I say to someone I've known for less than 24 hours, but considering what he did, I'd say it's justified. I'm now considering again the possibility he killed his fellow neighbours with that axe of his.

"Okay, guys," says Emmy. "Let's be quiet now. The whole building probably knows we're here after Jayden's shrieking. Come on, let's go over here and search the perimeter of the building. Maybe we can find some clues as to where they are."

"You'd have screamed, too," I mutter, feeling my heart again just to make sure it hasn't stopped. Gabriel snickers, and I scowl. Maybe I'll look back on this in the future and find it funny, but right now the humiliation does not feel pleasant. I hope they don't end up remembering this.

We walk along the side of the building until we reach a corner and then turn. There aren't many windows in this place. A couple looking into currently empty offices, but no clue as to where we could find Carli and the other humans.

The S.E.H. building is actually pretty long. Maybe three or four times the length of the Serenity town hall. But still we find nothing, except for what I assume is the main entrance (which is really just another boring door on the wall, but it has a concrete path leading away from it) and a few windows.

Soon we finally notice something interesting. But not in the building. Behind it, just in front of where a forest begins, a line of people are being frog-marched to a row of trees. The humans that were in the other cells. I recognize everyone in there. The white-haired girl, the sullen-looking boy, and—I rub my eyes to make sure I'm not hallucinating— _Kelsea and Viridian_. One by one, all of them get tied to a tree.

"That's them!" I whisper, pointing to my Serenity neighbours. "Those two are the other humans from my town!" How did they get here? But that doesn't matter right now. I crane my neck as I look for Carli. She's there, too. The last one to be tied up and on the tree closest to us.

"Okay," Emmy says quietly. "Mission plan. What do we do?"

"We find a way to sneak into the forest without anyone noticing," Gabriel says. "The trees are pretty dense, but it's still going to be tough to do."

"They're probably going to see us if we do that no matter what," I say.

"That's what _this_ is for," Gabriel says, taking out his axe again. I flinch, but he doesn't notice. "And you guys have your shovels. Hopefully we won't have to use them, but keep in mind they won't hesitate to kill us. Just look what they're doing over there." I get the feeling he knows I'm not going to be able to use the shovel as a weapon.

"So are we just going to go into the forest, around the back, and come out behind the trees where they're tied up?" I ask.

"Sounds like a plan," Emmy says.

"I guess so," says Gabriel.

"Do either of you have any other ideas?" I ask. I don't even like the plan I came up with. I just didn't want to seem like a deadbeat. Emmy shrugs.

"Not me," she says.

"I say we just do that," Gabriel says. "Sounds like the only thing we can do."

There's always another way, though. I wish Carli was here. She'd figure something out.

But nevertheless, I follow my new companions as we plunge into the dense greenery and make our way as quietly as possible through the trees and dodging low-hanging branches. Then I hear a new voice, one with a tone of importance that sounds like it's talking into a megaphone.

"Fellow citizens," it announces as we scramble through the forest, "we are gathered here today to witness the deaths of these vicious humans. This will be our revenge. For what they have done, and for what their ancestors and relatives have done. The deaths of this scum will symbolize the start of a new era. One where humans will be few and hunted."

I can feel my anger rising as I listen to the obnoxious speech. Gabriel mutters some not-very-nice but highly accurate words about S.E.H. I hate this voice, and I feel so useless against it. All I can do is hope this plan works, but I'm not optimistic.

As we reach the back of the forest, the speech is winding to a close. The three of us are right in the middle of the line of prisoners, a few metres behind one of the human girls, shrouded by the cover of the trees.

"The tree is too narrow," I hiss as I mentally measure the one the girl is tied to. "We can't untie her without being seen."

"They're focusing on whoever's on the left," Gabriel whispers back. "They won't be looking."

"And now," the voice starts again, far to my right this time, "with this boy, Remington Durovic, we will burn the first human at the stake!" He is met with a thundering of cheers and applause.

"What are we going to do?" Emmy asks fearfully. I'm frozen in place. In a few seconds, Remington, whoever he is, is going to be barbecued.

In response, Gabriel darts forward to the girl to untie her before either of us can hold him back. Emmy and I look at each other in horror just as someone shouts.

"It's one of the escapees!"

Gabriel frantically pulls at the knots binding the girl as a line of animals at the back—the ones that marched the prisoners out here and tied them up—pull out their own weapons. The glint of silver metal in the sunlight catches my eye. Some are equipped with axes, while others are wielding razor-sharp knives.

"We'd better go, too," Emmy whispers. Before I can say anything, she hurries away and I trepidatiously follow her as she goes to untie the boy next to Gabriel—the sulky navy-haired kid—and I head for the next one in line, a girl.

"It's the other two!" comes a different voice. I hear footsteps and know we're going to be under attack soon.

The rope is tough, scratchy, and hard to untangle, and it's even harder as the line of angry animals at the back are racing towards us all. I try to remember Gabriel's words of encouragement to me, right before I charged the guard with the lamp. _I can do this._ Right? I wonder if I should hurry away and save myself, but if Gabriel and Emmy are doing this, then I will, too.

The white tiger who was just about to light Remington on fire, who I think was also the person making the speech, lifts up a lit torch and glowers at the three of us.

"Kill them!" he shouts, pointing at us with the end of the torch.

I'm not done untying the girl yet, but I grip the shovel in my pocket tightly.

Gabriel and Emmy have both untied one person, but both are now wielding their weapons. Emmy holds her shovel up like a bug net, while Gabriel gets an idea and slices through the rope of another person with his axe. I want to see how many he can free, but then the tiger chooses this moment to set the flame of the torch to Remington's tree.

Remington screams, and so do I.

"Gabriel!" I shout. "Over here! The axe!"

I don't have time to see the fate of Remington or whether Gabriel makes it, as now an orange and red lion brandishing a lethal axe is two feet away from me. He's faster than I am. I can't run. I must fight.

I swing my shovel as hard as I can directly at the lion's head. It connects with his axe, and he forces the shovel away from him before whipping his axe straight at my thigh, and I yelp and jump back as I awkwardly deflect it with my shovel just in time. This must be what sword fights are like on TV, where the blades constantly make X's and the two fighters take forever to make a hit.

I move backwards a bit, and start to swing for the lion's side, but realize what will happen and at the last second adjust my shovel upwards, putting every ounce of strength I have into the shovel.

It connects with his neck.

"Oh my gosh," I whisper to myself as the lion yelps, collapses, and puts a hand to his wound and use this time to run away. I've injured too many people today. I don't want to keep doing this. To my left, Viridian and Carli are the only ones left tied up. Emmy, Kelsea, and two people I don't know are battling it out with other animals, all next to each other. The black-haired girl who was across from me in the jail is lying on the ground, a long tear in her shirt revealing a cut. Her chest is still rising and falling, though. Her assailant must have been attacked by someone before they could finish her off or figured she was as good as dead anyway.

I go to work untying Viridian next, as no one's coming for me yet. I spot Gabriel entering the scene, swinging his axe into the back of one of our enemies, and immediately I look over at the tree where Remington was tied up. It's in flames, but I don't know if he's consumed in the fire or not. Everyone else is untied over there, at least.

I finish untying Viridian and he immediately pulls out his axe as I move on to Carli. I guess no one bothered to confiscate his belongings.

Once Carli is done, she thanks me for untying her, and again once I give her the shovel I grabbed from her cubby, her eyes gleaming viciously. I'm not sure what to do, so I just hold onto my own shovel tightly and glance in every direction for possible attackers. The big fight from earlier is broken up and dispersed now. Closest to me, Kelsea is exchanging blows with a tall blue bear. I must be crazy, but I move out of view from the bear and come up behind him before whipping my shovel into the back of his head. He's out like a light.

"Thanks, Jayden!" says Kelsea gratefully.

Why did I do that? I feel kind of bad for the bear. I hurt him.

But he would have hurt Kelsea.

So why do I feel sick to my stomach about what I did?

Then a new figure bursts out of the building. It's Keaton! He must have come here with Kelsea and Viridian. I'm grateful to have another ally, but I'm wondering where the others could be. Keaton eyes me and grins before pulling out an axe. His arm goes back… and then launches the axe straight at me. My jaw drops.

" _Keaton!_ " Kelsea shrieks in horror, at a volume I've never heard her use. "Jayden, get out of the way!" But I'm too shocked, too frozen in place to move. Everything has gone silent. I wouldn't be able to get out of the way fast enough. All I can focus on is the blade turning end over end to meet my heart.

Kelsea plows right into me, knocking me off my feet. I hit the ground hard, and I'm sure I'm bleeding.

I sit up and feel my cheek for blood, expecting to see Keaton hovering over me or something, but instead, right in front of me is Kelsea, lying on the ground.

And she has an axe lodged in her chest.


	21. Chapter 21 - Battlefield

**Chapter 21 - Battlefield**

 **Viridian's POV**

I never thought all that training with Frobert would come in so handy. These prison guys, they look tough, but they're not actually great fighters when it comes down to it. I stare down at the purple gorilla who I just delivered a slash to the leg to. I probably could have taken her down with just my bare hands, honestly. It was clear to me that she had never swung an axe before.

I guess when all they do is put the cuffs on you and walk you around, they don't need to be all that handy with weapons. Just strong and intimidating.

" _Kelsea!_ " I hear Jayden shout. I look over to see our mayor with an axe sticking out of her, and I gasp.

"Oh no," I say, sprinting across the battlefield. Jayden is crouching over Kelsea, a look of panic on his face.

"What can we do?" he asks me, distraught.

"I'll be fine," Kelsea says, wincing as I gently pull out the axe. There's so much blood. Too much. She's trying to remain stoic, but the pain is clearly getting to her. "Go on and fight. You can help me after… after you win."

"Okay," I say, feeling guilty about leaving her there, but knowing I need to help out in the battle. There are a few injuries on both sides, but I think we're doing better. Slightly. The kids from the jail must be really good at channeling their hatred and desire for revenge into their fighting.

"Viridian," says Kelsea weakly, "in my pocket, there's a cell phone… call Copper."

I reach into Kelsea's pocket, rifling through various objects and scattering them on the ground before I find a silver flip phone. In Serenity, we don't have many cell phones. We mainly have the ones with the cords. I guess she gets one because she's the mayor.

"Jayden," I say. He looks up at me, and I toss him the phone. "Call Copper and get him over here as fast as possible." I'd be more useful in the fight than he would. He rapidly dials and I turn back around to get back in, gripping my axe.

Immediately, a searing pain scorches across my arm, and I gasp as I turn to face a towering brown hippo, brandishing a knife, going right for the kill this time. I suspect he'd have stabbed me in the heart the first hit if I hadn't turned in the nick of time, leaving me instead with only a bloody scrape on my left arm. I nimbly dodge the blow and retaliate with an axe to his face, but he protects himself by whipping his knife at my axe with such a surprising amount of strength that the axe spins right out of my hand, leaving me totally vulnerable against the hippo's wrath.

Now I'm on defense, waiting for him to aim just so I can dodge his knife. Five times in a row, his knife slashes through empty air. But then the back of my shoe lands the wrong way on a rock, and I find myself tripping backwards, staring up into the sky until the hippo comes into view again.

The hippo grins as he lunges with his knife again, and I try to dodge it but I'm not going to be able to get out of the way in time. Just when I think I'm doomed once and for all, the hippo wheezes suddenly, drops the knife, and slips to the ground.

A tall boy with shaggy inky blue hair stands behind the hippo, and takes out the axe he plunged into his back.

"You can thank me later," he says as he runs off. I remain lying there, and sit up to feel the cut on my arm. It's bleeding, but luckily it's not that deep. I've had worse.

I run off to retrieve my axe, and as I return, I notice Keaton a distance away, watching Kelsea intently.

"Keaton!" I say.

"Hello, Viridian," he says. Something about his expression is disconcerting. "How's our mayor enjoying my axe?" My jaw drops.

" _You_ threw that at her?" I ask furiously. I can't believe it. He couldn't have.

"Not directly," he says, shrugging. "I was aiming for Jayden, but she took it to save him."

"But _why?_ " I exclaim. The knuckles on my right hand turn white with the strength I'm gripping the axe handle with.

"I was a part of this from the beginning," he says, smiling and speaking casually as though we have all the time in the world. "I poisoned the town tree the day I moved to Serenity. I used a slow-acting poison so it was never noticed until four days ago and you couldn't trace it to my arrival. I was the one who switched Jacob's calerite with my revonite. I encouraged Vivian to try and turn everyone in town against you and make them all aware of the wickedness of humans. I helped scheme with Hamphrey to banish you from town if you remained uncooperative. I led you here on purpose so we could kill you." He pauses as he lets all this information sink in. "You thought I was your friend. You never suspected that I secretly hated you and the others. I was the ultimate undercover agent."

With a battle cry, I slug my unarmed ex-friend in the neck. He doesn't scream or cry out as he falls. Instead, he grins wider.

"Go ahead and kill me," he says. "Rolf will win. The humans will fall. It won't matter. All you're doing is emphasizing the fact that humans are cruel, ruthless beings."

If looks could kill, Keaton would already be dead with the intense glare I'm giving him, invisible laser beams shooting out of my eyes and boring through his head. I take a deep, furious breath and grit my teeth.

I turn away. I can't do it. But then Keaton laughs, and I snap.

I whip around and slam the flat part of the axe blade on top of his head. I don't wait to see how he reacts; I'm headed back to the real action.

Immediately, I see another familiar face that I saw just a few minutes ago. Snooty. She dusts grass off her dress and she puts a hand to the scratch on her face. She gives me a dirty look when she sees me.

I hear a scream from a distance. It's Carli's voice. Soon this fighting will be total carnage, and I can't let that happen.

I do something different this time, and wrap Snooty in a tight headlock that Frobert taught me. He's used it on me several times before. I hold the axe blade to her neck.

" _Drop your weapons or she dies!_ " I roar in my loudest voice. It ripples through the crowd and every head turns to look at me. A white tiger in the back eyes me with a curious smirk, and while some of the animals drop their weapons to be picked up by a few humans, others grip them tighter than ever, including the tiger and his knife. Everyone is silent and frozen in place, and it continues for what feels like forever until the tiger speaks up.

"You're bluffing," says the tiger, who is standing right next to a bleeding Carli. At least she's standing up. I look around at the rest of the destruction incurred by both sides. A green bear cub is passed out on the ground, while a black-haired girl is sitting up against one of the trees, pressing the fabric of her dress tight against herself to stop the flow of blood from a wound. Her blue outfit is stained purple in the middle. The hippo who attacked me is still lying on the ground, motionless. Is he dead? I can't tell. Kelsea is still lying on the ground in a pool of blood, but Jayden's no longer with her; he's sitting on the ground some distance away and hugging his knees to his chest, whimpering as he puts a hand to a gash going up his left leg. His hands are covered in scarlet and his face is drenched with tears. A blond kid is attempting to stem the gushing blood from Kelsea's chest with his shirt, while an orange rhino is tending to the purple gorilla I injured earlier, using a cloth to dab at her wounds. An orange lion stands over a boy with bright scarlet hair, holding a knife in one hand and a shovel that I'm assuming used to be the boy's in another.

"Want to bet?" I snarl as maliciously as I can, pressing the blade to Snooty's neck just enough so that it breaks the skin. A tiny droplet of blood appears and dribbles down her throat, leaving a pale red trail in its wake. I _am_ bluffing, actually, but I can't let him know that. I need to show enough blood so that he thinks I'll actually kill her. I see the panic in Snooty's eyes and know my act is believable.

Then the tiger makes a sudden move and grabs Carli in another headlock. I'm caught off guard. That's not how this was supposed to go! They're supposed to drop everything and watch me in fear that I'll kill their ally, not take one of us hostage as well. Unfair!

"Kill her and your friend dies, too," he says, bringing a knife to her throat, the blade dipped with red.

On one hand, Carli betrayed me. She led us to be captured to save herself, when she was unknowingly going to be toast either way. That's not something I'm going to forget, no matter how much she thought she was doing the right thing. Sacrificing others to save yourself is something I really can see why one would do it—and maybe I would, too, if I was in her position, but I can never know for sure because I haven't yet—but it will always result in those said others being bitter. However, Carli is still one of us. And no way will I let anything happen to her, not today.

Everyone looks anxiously between me and Snooty and the tiger and Carli as they wait to see who takes the first move.

I finally decide to let Snooty go, roughly shoving her off and letting her fall to the ground, praying that the tiger does the same.

Big mistake. He doesn't.

Instead, he sneers as he brings the knife even closer to Carli's neck, and a river of blood starts to flow downwards. Just like with Snooty, only more. Carli's eyes bulge with fear. And I realize with horror that I did exactly what he wanted me to do. I no longer have anything on him.

"No!" I yell helplessly. And I run, faster than I've ever run before, past the crowd of people and ignoring thoughts that the tiger could just run through Carli's neck with the knife right then, and, aiming straight for the tiger's arm, I let my axe soar.

Either I'll hit the tiger, I'll hit Carli, or I'll miss both completely, but it's a risk I must take. Besides, I have nothing to lose. We'll all be killed in a couple hours, anyway. But I know Kelsea was hopeful and if we do have that tiny, miniscule chance of surviving, I want Carli to be alive for it.

Just as the tiger prepares to impale Carli right through the jugular, the axe finds a home right in the tiger's arm before falling out, leaving a bloody gash in it. He roars with pain, lets go of the knife and Carli moments before she would have become a shish-kebab, and winces as he clutches the wound. I continue to race towards Carli and just as I reach her I push her away from the tiger, who bends down to pick up his knife, and then I kick the tiger in the stomach. He collapses to the ground and I snatch the knife and axe away. I don't attack him again, but I hold the knife warily, ready to attack if he or some of his thugs start to pounce on me.

And just then, it gets even better, as Copper shows up onto the scene, flanked by some other familiar faces. Digby, Reese, Cyrus, Kicks, all three Able sisters, Tom Nook, and Blathers all stand alongside him, some armed with shovels, others holding silver handcuffs. Sable has a first-aid kit and Copper himself is holding a gun. The group looks stunned at what's happened; Mabel covers her mouth with her hand and Reese tightens her grip on Cyrus' arm. It looks like a war just took place. And I suppose it did.

"I'll take it from here, Viridian," Copper says in his official police officer voice. "Good work. And Carli, too."

As Copper snaps a pair of handcuffs on the tiger, I feel a wave of relief wash over me. Kicks handcuffs the rhino while Reese and Cyrus take care of the lion. Digby puts cuffs on Keaton, shaking his head in shame at our former neighbour. Sable rushes over to Kelsea hurriedly alongside Labelle.

"Oh, Viridian!" Carli says, hugging me tightly. She's never hugged me before. "Thank you so much! You saved my life! I'm so sorry about what I've done!"

"It's okay," I say, hugging her back sort of awkwardly, relieved that she's safe.

"Where's Kelsea?" Carli asks me. "I need to apologize to her."

"She's over there," I say, pointing. "Kelsea is badly hurt." All the blood drains from Carli's face.

"What?" she gasps. "Oh no. No, I need to see her." I follow her as she runs over to where Sable and Labelle are hunched over. Sable is crying, while Labelle looks up at both of us sadly as she shakes her head. I look down helplessly at Kelsea's lifeless body, covered in red. It's too late for her.

She's gone.

* * *

 **We're nearing the end of the story! The next chapter is going to be the last one before the epilogue, which is going to be split up into multiple parts, so there's still a bit left.**

 **Also, R.I.P. Kelsea. :(**


	22. Chapter 22 - Empty

**Chapter 22 – Empty**

 **Carli's POV**

"No," I say shakily. "She can't be dead. She isn't."

"I'm sorry, Carli," Sable says sadly, looking up at me with watery eyes. "I really am." She and Labelle get up and walk away to move on to someone else who's badly injured.

"I'm sorry, too," Viridian says quietly from behind me. "It was Keaton. He was a traitor. He threw an axe at Jayden, and she died saving him." My heart sinks even further with the realization that it was someone from Serenity who killed Kelsea. How could Keaton betray us?

But then, I realize, I betrayed Serenity, too. I'm the reason why Kelsea's here right now. If only I had done something. If only I warned them, or fought back at Rolf…

"So she died a noble death," I mumble to no one in particular as tears drip down my face. She sacrificed herself. Classic Kelsea. I can't help feeling a bit of frustration mixed in with my sadness. I always knew she was too selfless for her own good. Viridian walks away, leaving me alone with my best friend's body.

It feels so eerie, looking down at Kelsea's lifeless figure, knowing we can never again talk or play or tease or argue with each other. I pick up Kelsea's right hand and hold it in mine. It's still warm.

"I'm sorry, Kelsea," I whisper in her unhearing ear. "I was a horrible friend. I failed you. I will never forgive myself. Soon Serenity will be destroyed. Soon we'll be reunited." A teardrop drips off of my chin and splatters on Kelsea's hand.

After a little while longer, I finally get up, wipe my face off with my dirty sleeve, and join the other people, who are all clustered around Jayden, being tended to by all three Able sisters. To my surprise, the villagers from Serenity are here as well.

"Pate," I say to her in surprise, who happens to be standing right next to me. "You're here."

"Yeah," she replies. "Copper, Mabel, and Blathers searched the building until they found us in these jail cells." I wonder if they're the same ones we were in earlier today.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask her. "Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, silly!" she says, and I relax a little. "I know you had a totally good reason. Most of us would've done the same thing. As for Hamphrey and Blanche and Vivian, though…"

"They're mad, huh?" I ask.

"Let's just say I totally wouldn't want to be around them when they're holding any sharp objects," she answers, nodding. I wonder if I'll be living this down for what remains of my very short life.

It didn't even end up with me being spared. As soon as Kelsea and Viridian were grabbed, they took me as well. Rolf's voice echoes in my mind: _"You dimwitted girl. Did you really think I would let you go just for allowing me to use you as bait?"_ I can't believe I actually ever thought that.

Sable rubs iodine on the gash on Jayden's leg, who then cries out in pain.

"It's okay, Jayden," Sable says calmly, sounding like she's done this a thousand times. She must have had practice when she was growing up with Mabel and Labelle. "Just cleaning your wound so it doesn't get infected." Jayden moans in anguish again, clearly even more distressed by that comment, as Mabel gets out some bandages.

"Don't worry, Jayden," says Mabel soothingly. "Sis has fixed up far worse cuts than that on me and Label when we were little. Remember the rollerblades, sis?" Sable doesn't respond, concentrating on Jayden.

Soon Jayden is all fixed up, plus a black-haired girl named Priscilla and the paper airplane-making boy with light green hair who's named Remington (who wasn't killed by being burnt at the stake after all, but has a couple severe burns that he's going to the hospital in Oceana City for). She even fixes up some of the animals who attacked us ("They may be criminals about to go to jail, but we don't have to let them suffer more than they already will," said Sable), but one of them, a brown hippo, was too far gone to help. I don't feel sorry for him. Meanwhile, Copper places several phone calls, presumably to do with the S.E.H. people.

"So, I'm not sure if this is a good time to say this," a blond kid I recognize as Jayden's former cellmate chimes in, "but Jayden found that rock you guys were looking for." All eyes immediately swivel to focus on him.

"Calerite?" Labelle gasps, her head jerking upwards.

"Yeah, that," he says. Immediately, excited murmurs rush through the crowd.

"Well, where is it?" asks Hamphrey. In response, Jayden fumbles in his pocket and takes out a rock, unmistakably the same shade of crimson as his hand.

"Keaton must have swapped out the rock or something with revonite," he says.

"You waited until _now_ to tell us?" Vivian screeches.

"Huh?" Jayden asks, with that familiar nervous expression he has whenever he feels attacked. I don't blame him; I'm used to Vivian's rudeness, but this seems pretty uncalled for. If it wasn't for him, we'd have no cure at all.

"We only have until twelve to get back to Serenity!" Vivian says angrily. This immediately catches my attention.

"Twelve?" I ask. "What do you mean? We're not in any danger until Friday."

"Leif made a mistake," Vivian says, gritting her teeth. "Today at noon. That's our new deadline." I stare at her, dumbfounded. I can't believe it. She has to be joking. Jayden matches my unbelieving expression and his fingers freeze stiffly around the rock.

"And Kelsea said we're connected to the tree and even if we're out here, we'll still be killed when the tree dies," adds Viridian. "Or something like that. I forget."

"Let me see the rock," Leif says, taking it from Jayden's bloody hand. He examines it and turns it over. "I don't believe it," he gasps. "This really is the cure for Serenity!" He gives the rock back to Jayden, who wordlessly tucks it back in his pocket.

The reaction that this news has on the crowd is immediate. Some people squeal in delight, some talk in excited, loud voices with the person next to them, and everyone is in high spirits.

As great as the news of our real cure should be to me, I just can't bring myself to be delighted about it. Even if we do survive, Serenity will never be the same. We won't have Kelsea as mayor. Keaton won't be there. Who knows what else happened while I was gone? We might as well all live in Amber Creek. Or Greyvale.

Despite that, I colourlessly say, "That's wonderful."

The mood seems to get much brighter after knowing we won't all die after all.

"Where did you find it?" asks an amazed Erik.

"It was in this office that we went through as we were coming out," the blond kid explains. "It has a bunch of stuff taken from everyone who was captured as well."

"Oh, we found a bunch of your stuff, too," Jayden says, turning to me. He takes out a handful of leaves and some of my tools and hands them to me. "Sorry… they took all of our money."

"Thanks," I say blankly, tucking my belongings away and not even caring about my missing Bells.

"Hey, have you forgotten about our time limit, people?" demands Vivian. "It's time to scram!"

"What time is it?" Jayden asks frantically, his eyes bulging with fear.

"I don't know," says Viridian.

"Hey, where'd you get that stuff those jerks confiscated from us?" asks the navy-haired boy, looking at Jayden.

"Um—"

"I'll show you, Marco," Emmy chimes in. "Jayden's got to get back as soon as possible."

"Awesome," Marco replies.

"It was great working with you guys," Emmy says to us. "Rooming with you and escaping with you and fighting with you." She looks at me, then Jayden, then all three of us. "Maybe we'll see each other again."

"I hope so," I say. "Nice meeting you, too." Jayden and Viridian say their goodbyes as well and Emmy and Marco get ready to leave.

"By the way," Viridian adds, just before Marco turns his back on us, "thanks for saving my life out there."

"It was nothing," Marco says, shrugging.

The other non-Serenity humans go with them, and we say our short goodbyes. We may not know each other well—or at all, really—but going through this fight together has sort of connected us all.

Finally, we get ready to head back.

"Oh, no," Copper says suddenly, checking his watch.

"What?" asks Blanche.

"It's 10:40," says Copper to all of us, looking at a piece of paper in his hand. "The next train leaves Riverview at 10:56. It's going to be tight to make it."

"What?" asks Jayden. "How far away is the station? What if we miss it?"

"I'm sure you'll be able to make it," says Copper. "Besides, it took a little bit of extra time to navigate the forest on the way here; your neighbours should know the way back. I'm going to have to remain here to keep watch on the criminals, but the rest of you had better hurry up." He turns to me. "I'll take care of Kelsea, don't you worry."

"Okay, enough talking!" snaps Cherry, beginning to break into a run. "If we're going to run, let's _run!_ "

"Now you're talking!" says Frobert, starting after her, and the rest of us follow.

"Hey, guys!" Jayden's former cellmate, who introduced himself to us as Gabriel, is hurrying over to us.

"What is it?" asks Viridian as we run.

"Well, I'm going to need to figure out somewhere to live," says Gabriel. "Redbrook will never take me back, even if they find out I was innocent. I wouldn't go back there even if they _would_ take me back. So I was wondering… would I be able to move to Serenity?" Jayden looks at him excitedly.

"You should do it!" he says. "I mean, we do have—um, well…" He trails off, the grin slipping from his face, but I know what he was going to say—two people missing.

It takes a while to get back to civilization, but after a lot of running, we finally emerge from the woods.

"We're close!" Cherry shouts. "Let's _go_ , people!"

A few Riverview citizens give us strange looks as we dart through their town, but finally, _finally,_ we make it to the train station… where the train is already there.

"It's here!" Pate shrieks.

"We can't miss it!" yells Erik, his voice a little tight from being out of breath.

And we run, faster, faster, with my legs screaming in agony…

…and just as we reach the doorway of the station, the train pulls out.

"No…" gasps Reese.

We miss it by _seconds_. We were so close, but so far at the same time. I can hear our last hope powering away from us, and I collapse onto the floor, panting heavily.

"How could we miss it?" Viridian asks, stunned.

"When does the next one come?" asks Frobert. Jayden looks at the schedule on the wall.

"11:29," he says, deflated. "We're not going to make it."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It's scheduled to get into Serenity at 12:10," he whimpers. "By that time, there won't be a Serenity to arrive in."

"Maybe it'll arrive ahead of schedule," Pate chimes in hopefully.

"By ten minutes?" Jayden asks dubiously.

None of us can think of anything to say. We've done so much, we've lost so much, and it'll all have been in vain. How can we overcome this?

-x-

The half hour of waiting for the next train is agony. Every second that ticks by, I feel the already tiny sliver of hope slip away even more. But we have to make it. We just _have_ to.

When the train finally arrives, all of us get on, despite most of us sulking about our luck. But I've grown up with the belief that nothing is impossible, no matter how much it seems like all hope is lost. If there was ever a time to believe in that, it's now.

And for the third time in less than a week, I send the gears in my brain into overdrive. We need a way to get to Serenity faster.

"Could we talk to the engineer or something?" suggests Jayden.

"That's a good idea," I say, standing up from my seat. "Come on, let's go."

Jayden, Viridian, and Gabriel all follow me to the front of the train. The room where the engineer is is pretty small. A black and white penguin is seated in front of a bunch of controls.

"Hey," Viridian says. The penguin turns around.

"Oh," he says. "Do you need something? You should talk to the conductor."

"We need the train to go faster," says Gabriel. "These guys live in a town that's going to be destroyed in half an hour unless we get back there before noon."

"Excuse me?" the confused penguin asks.

"There's no time to explain," I say. "Please, could you make the train go a little faster?" The penguin shakes his head, and I deflate.

"I'm not allowed to change the speed of the train," he says. "This train runs on a schedule that determines when and where it stops."

"But our _lives_ are at stake!" Viridian exclaims.

"Sure, and I'm the mayor of Oceana City," the penguin says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He clearly thinks we're just a couple of troublemaking teenagers. "If you'll excuse me, I have a train to run." I grit my teeth and speak up, sick of this stupid day and the people I've encountered.

"Listen here," I hiss, grabbing the collar of the penguin's uniform. "My best friend and the town's mayor _died_ today because of _me_ , and we've had to escape a horrible prison intent on killing us. Everyone in my town will die today if you don't speed up this dang train, so you had better do it _now_." My voice cracks a bit when mentioning Kelsea's death, but the engineer still hears the passion behind my words. He looks alarmed as I let go of his shoulder.

"Miss, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you and your friends to get back to your seat now, or else I'll have to call security in here," he says sternly.

I glare at him, but then, the gears in my head churn out an idea.

"Fine," I say. "Come on, guys."

The boys look at me in bewilderment, but follow me out.

Once we're back in the aisle again, shutting the door behind us, Viridian grabs me.

"What was that for?" he exclaims. "You're giving up that easily?"

"Wait a second," says Jayden, looking right at the precious red button on the wall next to us. "Are you—" I cut him off with a nod.

"Viridian," I whisper, "open the door again, quietly, and hold on tightly. Really tightly. He's going to be caught off guard, so you should be able to get him before he recovers. You're going to need to take the engineer out of commission and take over the controls."

"I can take care of tying him up if we're doing that again," offers Jayden quietly, taking his fishing rod out of his pocket. I stare at him, surprised by his initiative.

"I'll help him," adds Gabriel. I smile.

"Great," I say. "You're both going to want to hold on, too, then."

Jayden, Gabriel, and Viridian all grab onto the back seat, preparing for my plan to be put into action. Neither of my last two have worked out right.

Let's hope the third time's the charm.

I slam the red emergency brake button with my fist. The train squeals and stops almost immediately, hurling me against the wall and shoving me to the floor—ironically, I'd neglected to hold on, but luckily, the boys remain mostly balanced, and they all rush in to hijack the train.

The passengers all shout and groan as they lie on the floor, slowly standing up again. When I stand up and they look at me, a bunch of them start shouting.

"I have a meeting in Oceana City in twenty minutes!"

"That is not a toy, little girl!"

"My new GracieGrace dress touched the filthy floor! You owe me a new one!"

"What was that for?" Hamphrey bellows at me. "Don't you know we need to get there _faster_ , not slower?"

"I hope you have an explanation for this, Carli," Blanche says crossly.

"It's the only way we're going to get there in time!" I say. "Look!"

I show them into the engineer's room and can't help but grin. The penguin is tied up in his spinning chair with fishing line (unlike with Snooty, the line is still attached to the rod), along with a large bruise on his head, presumably from having his head banged against the controls. The chair's been pushed to the side, and Viridian, Jayden, and Gabriel are all standing next to each other at the controls.

"I think it's this one," Gabriel says, reaching for a silver button. Viridian swats his hand away.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's this yellow one," he says.

"How about the blue one?" Jayden suggests.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"We don't know how to start the train up!" Jayden says. "Carli, do you know which one it is? Or Blanche? Hamphrey?"

"Try them all," I say, joining the three of them at the controls. There are a lot more buttons, switches, and levers than I thought there would be.

Viridian immediately slams the yellow button. Nothing happens.

"I think that just turned the lights on!" Jayden says, squinting through the window. "Try that little blue one!"

Viridian presses it, and then static crackles through like a radio. I can't see where it's coming from.

"Turn it off!" I say, worried that whoever's on the other end is going to realize what's going on. But Viridian didn't need my warning, as he quickly presses it again before I finish my sentence, and the static stops.

"Where's the thing?" Jayden wails, looking at the engineer, but the penguin refuses to tell us, looking smugly at our struggling. I scan all the little controls feverishly, but nothing stands out. I'm about to reach for a lever with a lime green handle when Blanche speaks up.

"Hey, how about that pedal down there?" she asks, pointing.

We all duck down and see a black circular pedal under the desk.

"Oh!" Viridian shouts as he slams it down. It looks like an awkward position as it's designed to be pressed by someone sitting in the engineer's chair, but he holds it. I feel the train lurch forward, and I'm jerked back a bit. Soon the landscape outside the window is going by faster and faster. Gabriel and I cheer, and even Blanche and Hamphrey are smiling. The penguin, on the other hand, is horrified.

"Thanks, Blanche," I say, grinning.

"I have to say, Carli," says Blanche, "I may not approve of your methods, but if it works, you might just save us today."

We zoom right past the station in Azure Falls, and we continue to gain speed.

"Stop!" shouts the penguin. "My boss will kill me!"

Viridian responds by pressing the pedal harder. I wonder how fast this train can go.

"Careful, Viridian," warns Hamphrey. "We don't want this thing flying off the rails."

"Will that happen?" Jayden asks, eyeing the speedometer anxiously. I look at it, too; we're currently going 80 kilometers an hour. Judging by the speed that the landscape passes by, it seems like about the same speed the train usually goes at.

"Not yet," says Viridian, keeping his foot pressed down on the pedal. Jayden glances at the clock on the wall.

"It's 11:38," he says. "We're still not even close. We need to go faster!"

When we pass Oceana City, predictably, a few angry passengers stomp into the chamber.

"What is the meaning of this?" demands a white and green kangaroo. "That was my stop! And you're going much too fast! This is a train, not an airplane!"

"I'm going to be late for my meeting!" grouches a navy blue alligator. "I demand that you let us off at the next stop!"

"No can do, folks," says Viridian. "There's been a slight alteration to the train schedule. You'll get to your stop on the next circle around. Right now, it's Serenity or bust."

"Serenity?" moans the engineer. "You can't miss all those stops in between! Oceana City is my biggest stop; you can't just pass by that! Please, you have to stop!"

It takes a long time to calm down the angry passengers (and the number of them only increases as we pass more and more stops), but the number on the speedometer increases to a hundred, then 120, then 150. I'm pretty sure we're going nearly twice as fast as we usually go, but it actually doesn't feel that fast if I don't look out the window.

"What station is that?" shouts Viridian as we pass another station. He's finally let go of the pedal.

"Rockworth!" replies Jayden, who's been keeping track of the stations we pass in his head. "Serenity's next!"

"Do you guys know where the brake is?" asks Erik, who's joined us in the back, along with a few other Serenity members.

"The brake!" I exclaim. I'd forgotten we need to know how to stop this thing.

"Is there another pedal?" asks Jayden, crouching down to look. "Wait, I think that's it right there!" I follow his line of sight, and he points to a red pedal, smaller and squarer than the one Viridian was holding down. It's a little higher up than the first one as well.

"Try it," I tell Viridian. "Hold it down slightly, not too much, just to see if we slow down."

The pedal's too high for him to reach standing up, so he ends up squatting down and pressing it with his hand. The train jerks, and I think he pressed it down a bit too much, but it's definitely the brake.

Jayden looks at the clock again and says, more anxiously than the last time, "It's 11:56!"

"We'll make it," says Viridian confidently.

"What's that?" asks Cherry, pointing up ahead. "Is that Serenity?" I follow her gaze and my eyes widen.

"I don't know," I say. "I hope not."

"What else could it be?" Jayden asks.

It turns out that they're right—as Serenity's station comes into view, Hamphrey's house is visible.

"My house!" he yells.

"It's Serenity, all right," Frobert says.

"I don't believe it," Cyrus says, standing up to look out the window.

"Are we too late?" asks Labelle worriedly.

"We can't be!" interjects Pate. "We've got to make it!"

"Let's go," Viridian says as we screech to a halt. We get off (apparently Gabriel is still intent on moving in because he comes, too), following the other stunned people from Serenity, and hurry out of the train station. Viridian overshot the stop slightly, but we're back. Against all odds, we made it.

The sight of Serenity is even more terrifying when we're this close, but we don't have time to ogle everything as we have to run at lightning speed.

Fire. The café. A yellow bench. A cluster of trees that I think are mostly apple but I can't remember. Engulfed in flames, glowing gold and scarlet as the fiery spikes stretch towards the purple-black sky filled with thick black smoke, the wind howling and shrieking. It blows my hair back, some strands of hair in my face. I wonder if Brewster's in the café.

"Is this the town self-destructing again?" asks Jayden as we sprint as fast as we can, having to shout to be heard over the raging winds. I regret not hanging out with Frobert and Viridian more.

"What do you think?" Cherry snaps back. "Come on, we need to go to the plaza!"

" _Less than four minutes!_ " bellows Frobert over the wind, leading the pack. "Let's _move_ it, people!"

We hurry to the plaza, but that in itself is a struggle, as the wind is so strong that I feel as if I'm going to be blown away. The fire crackles loudly, and I notice another group of trees being burned to a crisp that I'm positive was fine a minute ago.

I'm surprised it's just a fire. I was expecting humongous tsunamis or earthquakes that measure a 15 on the Richter scale or something.

As we get to the plaza, I notice a house is on fire, too. It's Kelsea's. I feel another pang of sadness and emptiness. Tendrils of fire emerge from her windows.

I hear a collective gasp from the group, and I gasp as well when I see what they're looking at: a giant wave rising out of the ocean and heading straight for us. It's pitch black and looks like a towering oily slick that will engulf us any second, something of pure evil and nothingness. And I know that we can't let it touch us or the tree.

"Get out the rock, Jayden!" Hamphrey barks urgently. The wind blows even stronger after this order, and the wave accelerates, making its way across the land and rising higher. Jayden reacts instantly and reaches into his pocket, pulls out the rock, and does what Leif did three days ago. I watch the wave as he haphazardly rips out clumps of soil with dirt flying in every direction. Just as the wave hovers right over us and is just above the highest empty branch of the tree, Jayden shoves the rock in, scrapes some soil on top of it, and…

"The wave is gone!" shouts Erik gleefully.

"The tree!" exclaims Blanche. "It's turning brown!"

And they're right. The black powdery substance that coated the tree seems to melt away, the chocolate brown colour of the trunk slowly returning. The few leaves that remain on the town tree are getting their colour back, vibrant green and staying almost perfectly still, because the wind, threatening to blow me away like a sheet of paper a minute ago, has disappeared. So have the fires as well, and although Kelsea's house is scorched and the windows shattered, the flames have gone. Where the wave once was, grass, plants, and objects have been obliterated in its wake, vanished with no sign of them anywhere; only dirt remains in those places. And the sky, it's no longer a menacing indigo, but a bright, cheery, cloudless azure with the sun shining radiantly on the town.

I'm speechless, awestruck by the total transformation Serenity went through in less than a minute.

"It's beautiful," Pate says dreamily, looking around in wonder.

No, it's far from beautiful. Better than what we had a minute ago, but still dreadful in comparison to the Serenity I knew before I left. Trees uprooted and lying horizontal, houses scorched, buildings and public works projects destroyed, the lives of plants and flowers extinguished by fires with nothing but blackened sticks remaining—those don't turn brown.

This is not the paradise Serenity used to be.

And then, we can all hear the metallic chiming of the town hall bell as the town tune jingle begins to play cheerfully, like it's just another ordinary day, completely unaware of the chaos that had erupted around it. Twelve o'clock. We made it. Barely.

Despite the dreadful condition of the town, everyone erupts into raucous cheers, and the level of happiness is higher than you see here at Toy Day. Delight and relief fill the air.

"We did it!" exclaims Viridian enthusiastically, clapping Jayden and I on the back. "Serenity is back!"

"We sure did," says Jayden, looking up at the tree with a wide smile on his face as he absentmindedly scrapes away the dirt from under his fingernails. I've never seen him look so happy. I just nod in response.

If only Kelsea could be here to see this.

* * *

 **The main plot of the story is officially over! This is actually my longest chapter by a long shot, ending at well over 4000 words. :O **There are going to be three epilogue chapters after this as well (one for each main character), so we're not quite done yet!****


	23. Chapter 23 - Journey

NewgamePlus-LD - I had Kelsea's death planned for so long, and as sadistic as it sounds, it was one of the parts I was most excited to write. Honestly, I just knew I wanted to kill off a main character because I don't have a lot of experience with writing character deaths, and her death also helps to develop other characters as you may see...

TJMB - Thank you so much; that really means a lot!

Guest - Hmm, I'm not really sure. I don't have any plans for a sequel at the moment, but I haven't ruled the possibility out. I don't really know what the plot would end up being and I might not have the time to write one for a while, so it's pretty unlikely. If I do write one, though, it would probably be some kind of action/adventure-oriented plot, but the recovery of Serenity may still be in the background.

 **Chapter 23 – Journey**

 **Viridian's POV – July 11**

Someone knocks on my door as I lift a cardboard box onto a pile of other boxes. I'm all packed and ready to leave, to start a new life somewhere else. Frobert enters my house and looks around, stunned. He's wearing his odd Gracie tank today instead of gym clothes, for a change. He also looks a lot more solemn than usual.

"Viridian," he says. "What… what's going on?"

"I'm moving," I say.

"But… why?" Frobert looks bewildered. I don't blame him. We've gone through a lot lately, and everything's just beginning to settle down.

"Look, I've just always figured my future was to stay in Serenity forever," I explain. "That's what I always wanted. But after all this, after what happened with Kelsea and Jacob… I've realized that I need to get out and do everything I can while I'm able to. Kelsea worked her head off as mayor, and look where it got her."

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"She was just so dedicated to this town," I say. "She was always thinking about ways to make Serenity a better place to live. She never took vacations because she always insisted on being there five days a week to work on mayoral business. She never got to enjoy life like the rest of us because she always worried about the town, even when she wasn't working. Even if that was just because of how… _Kelsea_ -ish she was, I've realized I can't let anything hold me back. I may never have had work like her, but I don't want to be in the same place forever. Maybe one day, I'll do what Cherry suggested. Form a band and put on shows for people. You see what I mean, right?"

"Sort of," he says dubiously. "Where are you going to live, then?"

"Wherever I feel like," I say, smiling. "I'll listen to my instinct." I just want to go wherever the wind takes me. I don't need to stay anywhere too long—I want the freedom to be able to go wherever I want, with nothing holding me back. To be able to enjoy life to the fullest and experiencing everything I can, to do everything I can and expand my limits and my world.

"I'm sorry to see you go," he says.

"Maybe I'll write," I say.

"Maybe?" he echoes. I shrug.

"If I can," I say. If I know writing won't hold me back from my sense of freedom. If I know I won't feel obligated to return just because I write a letter.

"I get it," Frobert says, shrugging to convey indifference, but I get the sense I've offended him. I feel bad, but in all likelihood I'll never see him again. That idea is freeing, in a way.

The door opens again, and this time, Carli enters. She regards the boxes in my room. I repeat my explanation to her about why I'm leaving.

"But why today?" she asks, looking just as confused by my motives as Frobert.

"I want to leave as soon as possible," I say.

"Kelsea's funeral is on Friday," Carli says. "So is Jacob's. You'll come back for that, right?"

Drat. I was hoping to get out of town before the funeral was brought up.

"I'm trying to move on," I say. "If I come back for the funeral, I might be tempted to stay here forever. I need to move on from the past." Carli's expression hardens.

"That doesn't matter," she says, crossing her arms in front of her. "This town would be nothing without Kelsea. We owe it to her to go say goodbye one last time."

"I knew you wouldn't understand," I say. "Kelsea was great. But this is something I need to do. For me."

There's another reason, too. Kelsea and Jacob aren't going to know we're having a funeral. Are we having it because we think they'll care? No, we do it for us. It's kind of strange when I think about it.

Her sorrow will fade one day. We'll all stop grieving eventually. Although I have great respect for Kelsea and I definitely wish she hadn't died, and Jacob, too, this is good. It allows us to move on.

Carli purses her lips and stares at me. She doesn't see it the way I do. I almost apologize, but then decide against it.

"I guess you can do whatever you want, can't you?" she asks bitterly. She leaves without waiting for a response, shutting my door behind her.

I feel a little guilty, and also a bit concerned. I'm worried as to how much Kelsea's death has hurt her. They were best friends before. I wonder if losing her best friend has changed her in some way.

For better or for worse, I may never know.

-x-

I get on the train, look around for a second, and find a place to sit near the middle of the train. I rarely ride the train more than twice a month, once to Oceana City for any errands and once back to Serenity. Already I'm up to four times in the month of July.

I hear some footsteps from behind me, and a blue cat wearing a red knit sweater approaches me. I decide not to ask why he's wearing a sweater in the middle of July.

"Hi there!" he says. "I'm Rover! May I sit down?"

"Sure," I say. "I'm Viridian."

"Cool name!" Rover says, taking a seat. "So, where are you going today?"

"I don't know," I say, shrugging.

"You don't know?" he asks, intrigued.

"I'm just moving to whatever town draws me in," I answer vaguely.

"Very interesting," says Rover. "You travel much?"

"No," I say. "I plan to travel a lot in the future, though."

"I love travelling," Rover says. "As for me, I've visited every single city this train stops at. Even the cities the train doesn't stop at. I've travelled every corner of the country, roaming wherever I feel like. Mind if I give you a couple suggestions as to where you move to?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," I say. Rover pulls out a brown leather suitcase, decorated with stickers of every colour and shape, each with a different name on them, some of which I've never seen before. Morningstar. Maple Cove. Port Aquamarine. Rapture. He opens the suitcase and pulls out many square pieces of paper. I recognize them as town maps, just like the one I have of Serenity.

"Here are a few of the better towns on the route," he says. "But if you get off at Latibule, there's a second train route there that takes you to a whole new set of towns. Plus you can take a cab from some cities to other places."

"I'll stick with this route for now," I say, but that's something I'd definitely consider in the future. I scan through the maps, each with different notes tacked onto it. I read the first one:

 _Wishlake. Ordinance: Early Bird. Town Status: Average. Coastal town, many ponds and scenic views of the ocean from its cliffs. Fair amount of weeds, not much shopping._

All of them are like that, with the name, town ordinance if it has one, how well the quality of life is, and some extra random notes. I decide to leave my fate up to chance. I shuffle the maps like an oversized deck of playing cards and randomly pick one from the middle. I flip it over and read the note:

 _Summerhill. Ordinance: Night Owl. Town Status: Average. Lots of grass but relatively few trees and flowers, decent amount of buildings and public works projects. They have a cool winter festival called Bright Nights that I haven't seen anywhere else._

"Here," I say. I don't know if I'll end up staying for the winter festival, but I like the idea of the Night Owl ordinance. Once I requested that Kelsea replace Serenity's Beautiful Town ordinance with that but she declined. She said if that happened, Serenity would never be able to reach number one in the Oceana City District. "This is where I'm moving to."

"Interesting," Rover says. "Well, Summerhill comes up in a few stops. You can keep that map, by the way; I have plenty."

"Thanks," I say, folding it neatly and pocketing it.

Before I know it, the speakers are blaring, "Next stop: Summerhill! Summerhill Station!"

I get up and Rover smiles.

"Good luck starting your new life," he says encouragingly.

"Thanks," I say. "I will."

As soon as I step off the train, I'm greeted by a blue bull in the station, in the same place where Porter stands in Serenity.

"Hello!" he says. "Welcome to Summerhill. I'm Stu!"

"Hey," I say. "I'm Viridian. I was thinking about moving here. Is there a place I should go to?"

"Oh, very nice," Stu says. "You'll want to go to the town hall for that to get registered as a resident. Would you like a map?"

"No, thanks, I've already got one," I say. I pull the folded paper out of my pocket and show him.

"Well, then, go to the town hall on the map and Mayor Sly's secretary, Eunice, should get you all set up. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you," I say.

Of course, Summerhill's town hall has to be on the opposite side of town. I decide this is a good place to practice my running, and so I start jogging slowly towards the town hall, taking in the scenery. Rover's notes are accurate in that there aren't really many trees or flowers around. The only kind of fruit tree is pear. At least I like pears. Better than, say, cherries, that are more pit than fruit.

I find a white squirrel with slanted eyes and dusky blond hair roaming around town, fishing rod in hand and eyeing the river for shadows, and I come to a stop.

"Hi," I say, approaching him.

"Oh, hi," he says. "Who are you?"

"I'm Viridian," I say. "I'm moving in here."

"You are?" he asks. "Cool! I'm Marshal. Do you have any hobbies?"

"Mainly sports and music," I say with a grin. "How about you?"

"Hey, I like music, too!" he says eagerly, his eyes sparkling. "Music and collecting bottle caps!"

Instantly, I'm excited.

"What instruments do you play?" I ask.

"I play a pretty mean electric guitar, if I do say so myself," Marshal says proudly. "What about you?"

"Drums, mainly," I say. "But I also play a little trumpet."

Cool!" he says. "We should form a band or something! Alice is good at singing and can play piano; maybe we could make a trio!"

"Yeah," I say, nodding. "Well, I'll see you around; I've got to go to the town hall."

"Okay, see you!" Marshal says, continuing to scour the river for fish as I walk off.

Oh, yeah; this band might actually happen after all.


	24. Chapter 24 - Silence

**Chapter 24 – Silence**

 **Carli's POV – July 14**

We have the funeral on the beach.

Two pyres are set up, one with Kelsea's body and the other with Jacob's, which a few people volunteered to retrieve from the cave, all set for the cremation.

Isabelle, dressed all in black like the rest of us but more formal, stands between the two pyres, holding a tiki torch. It's a very tribal look. She's still the temporary mayor for Serenity. It's up to her to decide who the next official mayor will be, but she hasn't yet decided who will replace Kelsea.

In my mind, no one will ever truly replace her.

The crowd at the beach is relatively small. Not only has Viridian moved away, but Hamphrey has, too. Word of his last meeting with Jayden has somehow leaked out and he hasn't been very well liked because of it. Well, less than usual. I suppose he's moving on as well. Vivian has also decided to seek her future elsewhere. She wouldn't tell anyone why, but I'm guessing it was because of her trying to convince everyone to kick us out. So instead of her, Blanche is standing next to a white mouse with broccoli-coloured hair whose name I don't know. She moved in yesterday, but I haven't bothered to talk to her. A black and white cat is also here, but I don't know his name, either. I didn't even know he moved in. He looks on quietly, facing Kelsea's pyre in front of Lucy, who has returned from the hospital in perfect health. Apparently, she was already mostly fine to begin with.

"Fellow residents of Serenity," Isabelle says solemnly. The torch casts a sort of eerie glow in the evening light under the dark blue sky. The bright moon and stars are beginning to peek out. "Today, we honour the loss of two distinguished citizens of our town. One of them is Jacob. A kind, caring person who had a great talent of always bringing life to the party. He was a friend to many of us, and he made all of us better people through knowing him. It is because of him and his valuable discovery that we are here today. We are extremely lucky that he was able to find our cure, even if we didn't know it actually was the cure at first. We will forever be indebted to him. Our second resident we are mourning is Mayor Kelsea. Not only was she our devoted mayor, but to many of us, she was also a friend. She was dedicated to both Serenity and her friendships, and wanted to make Serenity the best town it could be. I'm sure we can all agree she was a great asset to our town and affected each of our lives for the better. Kelsea and Jacob will both be missed greatly by us."

I consider speaking up, too, and talking about Kelsea, but the words catch in my throat and I can't bring myself to do it.

"And with that," Isabelle continues, her voice cracking ever so slightly but maintaining her composure, "it is now that we must say our final goodbyes to Kelsea and Jacob."

Then, too soon, Isabelle brings the torch to Kelsea's pyre and it immediately catches on fire. She does the same with Jacob's. The fires spread more quickly than I expected, and soon the fires are consuming both of their bodies, flames extending towards the stars, which are beginning to be obscured by clouds. Tears are beginning to well in my eyes. I can't stand to see either one go.

 _Goodbye, Kelsea. Forever._

-x-

Isabelle is keeping the ashes in the town hall. Some people were all for scattering them in the sea, or in the town tree's plot, but I vehemently protested. We can't get rid of them this fast. So Isabelle is holding onto them until a time comes when we can all decide what to do, if they'll remain there or be scattered one day.

The crowd is gone now, people gone back to their houses, some to go to sleep, as it's now nearly ten o'clock, and Isabelle's returned to the town hall where she'll place two intricately decorated brown urns prominently on top of the filing cabinet.

I am alone, looking onto the quiet ocean and the night sky, now covered in thick, dark clouds. Both pyres have been extinguished and are now nothing but blackened heaps. They'll be removed in the morning.

I remember the day we came out of the caves for the first time, with Keaton holding Jacob's calerite—and unbeknownst to us, intending to switch it out with another rock. All of us were covered with dust and dirt from the caves. I envision Kelsea's ash-covered face and think about how none of us knew that one week later, she'd be nothing but those same ashes that caked her skin and hair. We never suspected that Kelsea and Jacob would both be cremated on the beach on this dark Friday night.

"Hi, Carli," It's Pate, who's come back and is now approaching me. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," I say bluntly.

"She's in a better place now," she says, looking up at the stars.

"Maybe," I say.

"Look," Pate says, "I'm upset about Kelsea and Jacob, too, but you're not yourself anymore, Carli. You haven't talked to me since Wednesday, and that conversation only lasted for all of one minute. Kelsea wouldn't want you to be like this. She'd want you to move on."

"You don't know that," I say stubbornly.

"I do," she says. "She'd want what's best for you. You can't live the rest of your life stuck in the past and mourning. It's been four days. Why don't we go to Oceana City tomorrow and do some shopping? Take your mind off of everything for a while. Or if you're not up for that, we could go to the island. Or even just play cards or something."

She doesn't understand. She can't. She doesn't have to bear the guilt for being the cause of her best friend's death.

"I need to be alone," I say, and I leave her standing there as I ascend the ramp leading to the main part of town.

-x-

Five pictures are flagrantly displayed on my furniture. The same ones as always. These were once my most treasured possessions. Now, I'm not sure what to do with them. Particularly the ones with Kelsea. Should I keep them closer to me? Or should I discard them so nothing can remind me of her? Perhaps I should move on and look back at our good times with wistful happiness. Eventually I might. But when? Not now. I'm not ready yet.

I sit down on my bed and turn to face my paulownia closet. Kelsea and Pate smile back obliviously at me. It's too much.

I open a drawer and thrust the two pictures in there. I take the other three from my alpine dresser and toss them in as well before slamming the drawer shut. I hear a tinkle of breaking glass, but I don't open it again. I just let my tears flow.

And then, as I look out my window, it begins to rain.


	25. Chapter 25 - Recovery

At last, we're at the final chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who's read this story; it really means a lot to me!

And so without further ado...

 **Chapter** **25 – Recovery**

 **Jayden's POV – July 17**

You know, I thought I had enough of trees for a lifetime, but this is actually pretty cool.

Gabriel and I are sitting on the branches of an oak tree overlooking the beach, our legs dangling and kicking the air. I grip the thick trunk of my tree with both hands like my life depends on it (which it kind of does), while Gabriel's sitting further from the trunk on his branch and is only holding onto the branch with one hand. I am no climber, so my journey up here was nothing short of humiliating as Gabriel looked on from above, having gotten up there in a few seconds. I'm glad he didn't say anything about it.

"You really get a good view from up here, don't you?" I say. I've never been this high up before. It's kind of exhilarating, in a way. I take a deep breath. The air smells like freedom.

"Have you never climbed a tree before?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. I shake my head, shifting a bit on my branch and scraping my blue sneaker against the tree trunk.

"It's nice," I say, looking up at the canopy of bright green leaves above me.

"I like being up here," he says. "It makes me feel like I'm on top of the world."

"Hmm," I say, lacking any other words to respond with.

Gabriel always has to do _something_ every day. Whether it be the island, Oceana City, Club LOL, hide and seek, or hanging out with someone like Erik or Punchy, one of the new neighbours in town that we get along quite well with, it's always something. He always brings me along with him, too, which I appreciate. It's certainly a more hectic life than I'm used to, but I've still managed to finish _Koala Storm Caller_ (and bought a new book, too!) and despite me having always been an introvert, I've never really enjoyed the overwhelming loneliness I've been stuck with for years. I'm finding I'm enjoying a life with a friend who wants to do things with me, even if it's just to sit outside and make idle chitchat like today. We've gotten to know each other quite a bit.

It's been a busy week for other reasons, too. Newspaper and television crews have been coming here for the past week to interview people and get the story on the Society for the Extermination of Humans and their defeat, the near collapse of Serenity and the deaths of Kelsea and Jacob, and the scandals orchestrated to frame innocent people. One of the news crews who came included the Channel Six news guy, Poncho Welson, who's apparently supposed to be a big deal, but I didn't really know about him until two days ago. They've all interviewed me, Gabriel, and Isabelle, and Leif and a few other Serenity villagers have also had an interview. I'm pretty sure they came here for Carli, too, but I think she's refused to talk to any of them. I haven't seen an interview of her on the Channel Six news or any quotes from her in the _Oceana Bulletin_ , and anyone who came for me would have wanted to speak with her for sure. I'm kind of proud of how I handled myself during them. As in, I wasn't a total stumbling mess when I talked about the poisoned tree and how we escaped and how the horrific experience has affected us all.

The crews have gone to talk to the other humans from other towns, too. Marco, Emmy, and the white-haired girl (whose name I found out is Sophie) have all been featured in the news, and most excitingly, I saw Viridian on television yesterday! He lives in Summerhill now. It feels weird to see him gone from Serenity after all we went through. It's kind of sad.

"So, what kind of cool events do you have here in Serenity?" asks Gabriel, who wants to know everything there is about Serenity. I like that he relies on me to tell him things.

"Same as anywhere else, I'm guessing," I say, shrugging. "We celebrate Toy Day, Halloween, the Harvest Festival, stuff like that. We have Bug-Offs in the summer. We were supposed to have one on Saturday, but what with all the stuff that's happened, I guess we never did it. And then in August we have the Fireworks Shows." There's more, of course, but I'm probably already boring him. I wish I could phrase all that in a way that sounds exciting.

"Oh, nice!" says Gabriel. If he's bored, he's gracious enough not to show it. "I love fireworks."

"Me too," I say. I don't mention that I haven't gone to a fireworks show in years. Maybe I'll go this year.

"Jayden!"

My head jerks to my right, where Isabelle is hustling towards me.

"Oh, hey, Isabelle!" Gabriel says as he climbs down a couple branches and jumps onto the ground. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi" is all I end up saying, concentrating more on finding a way down. It's easier than going up, at least.

"Hi, Gabriel," Isabelle says, smiling warmly. She turns back to face me once I've gotten down from the tree. "So, Jayden, now that Serenity is lacking a mayor, it's my job to choose the best candidate to replace her."

"Okay," I say cautiously, not entirely sure why she's telling me but dreading what might come next.

"And after careful consideration," she says, "I've come to the conclusion that you are the best candidate for the next mayor. Would you be willing to take on the job?"

My jaw drops; I'm waiting for her to yell out, " _April fool!_ " But she doesn't. Gabriel claps me on the back hard enough that I almost stumble forwards.

"Awesome, Jayden!" he exclaims, looking like Toy Day has just come early.

"Me?" I ask. "Why me? I could never be mayor. How about Carli? Or Frobert? Or hey—what about Gabriel?"

"I probably haven't lived here long enough," Gabriel says.

"Actually, there technically isn't a minimum length of time for living in the town," Isabelle says. "Someone could walk into town right off the train for the first time and we could declare them mayor if we wanted, but generally a mayor will have lived in the town for at least a year, and we try to stick to that. But Jayden, I feel like you can handle it. You broke out of that prison—"

"With Gabriel," I hastily add.

"—and you helped fight to end S.E.H.," Isabelle continues.

"Gabriel and Carli helped with that." I say.

"Carli couldn't do it." Isabelle says, shaking her head. "She'd be too overwhelmed if she was mayor, replacing Kelsea. Even now, she's been really quiet lately. Pate's concerned about her."

"Nothing's wrong with being quiet," I say, a little irked at the remark. I'm a very quiet person myself.

"It's unusual for Carli, though," Isabelle says. She has a point. "She hasn't been herself ever since Kelsea passed. She'll get better in due time, but I feel like taking the place of her best friend will just hinder the process. Really, though. What do you say? Will you do it?"

"I'm not sure," I say, looking to Gabriel for help. He'd be way better at this than me. "It's just that if I take it… well, how often would I need to come in?" I don't want to sound lazy, but I don't like the idea of not being able to do whatever I want all day.

"You barely ever need to come in," Isabelle says. "Kelsea came in for five days a week, two to three hours each at the most, but honestly, you only need to do a fraction of that. Maybe a few hours a week, or a little more if there's an event coming up, but you'll have loads of spare time. Even though I'm there all day, I spend most of my time reading a magazine, and when there wasn't much going on, Kelsea spent much of her time doodling pictures of her vision for Serenity and dreaming up ideas for public works projects. A bunch of her drawings are still in her desk if you want inspiration, actually. Sometimes she bounced ideas for special events off of me. There's really not much to do most of the time, and fixing the mess from this past week and a half is mostly figured out already. Gabriel and the other humans from S.E.H. have already been cleared of all applicable charges thanks to Copper, Leif's volunteered to replant and fertilize any damaged plants, and the government's given us a small reimbursement to fix the damages done to some of the buildings. It won't look the same, but it's a start."

"I don't know," I say, hating the pressure, but Isabelle's words comfort me. Part of me thinks I _could_ do it, and thinks it would be a good experience for me, but the other half is much more reluctant. I don't _have_ to think about Serenity 24/7. I can work for a few hours a week and work hard, spending the rest of my time with Gabriel or Erik or Punchy or even just by myself. It doesn't sound so bad. "I… I guess maybe, but—"

"Wonderful!" Isabelle says. "Because I kind of already made the preparations…" She giggles, and Gabriel laughs with her. "We're going to have a ceremony in the plaza at three. Make sure to be there!" She speeds off before I can say anything more.

"Hey, you can do it, Jayden," Gabriel says. "You just need to have confidence in yourself."

"I don't know if I can be mayor," I say miserably. Everything was going great for a few days. Why does this have to happen to me now? How can I manage an entire town?

"Think of all you've done," Gabriel says. "You took down two people in the fight. You escaped S.E.H. with me and Emmy. You saved my _life_. I wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for you taking action."

"Yeah, but it's my fault Kelsea's dead," I say guiltily. "If it wasn't for me, she'd still be here and we wouldn't need a new mayor."

"She thought you were worth laying down her life for," Gabriel says. "And if it wasn't for you, who knows if we'd have escaped? We'd have been cooked—literally—and we'd have never found the cure for Serenity. Everyone in this town and every human from S.E.H. owes you their life, Jayden."

"You really think I can do it?" I ask shakily.

"I _know_ you can do it," he says encouragingly, looking me right in the eye. "When it comes down to it, you can do great things. I think you learned a lot about yourself that day, Jayden. Just be brave and confident in yourself—just like you were at S.E.H.—and do your best. That's what matters. And I'll be your biggest supporter."

"Really?" I ask.

"What are friends for?" he asks with a grin.

He thinks of me as his friend. We've known each other for less than two weeks but somehow we've already reached that point. Through those trips to Oceana City and the island and those long conversations we've had and even that time we spent in Riverview together, we've developed a bond.

I've never had a real friend before. And even though Gabriel strikes me as the kind of person who would call a random person he talked to once in his life because they sat next to each other in the Marquee one day his friend, his words make me think that maybe, just maybe, my era of isolation is over.

"Thank you so much," I say quietly. Maybe I can do this after all.

-x-

The town is gathered around the town tree, ready for Isabelle to make her announcement. The tree still looks as good as new.

"You ready?" Gabriel asks me.

"Yeah," I say, trying to be confident.

"Good," he says. "You got this."

"Welcome, everyone!" says Isabelle. "I know we've had many town meetings lately, but this one, I'm delighted to say, is good news. Today, we'll be celebrating our new mayor taking office. I have high hopes that he will make Serenity an even better place to live. Come on up here, Mayor Jayden!"

I give an uneasy smile as I move forward through the crowd to join Isabelle in front of everyone. Everyone from town is there, even the new move-ins and the shopkeepers. I am met with applause and cheers.

"Mayor Jayden, would you like to give a speech?" Isabelle asks.

This catches me off guard. She never mentioned I'd have to do a speech earlier! But I keep my cool, take a deep breath, and say, "Sure," sounding a lot more calm than I feel.

"Take it away, Mayor," Isabelle says, smiling as she drifts off to the side. All eyes are on me.

"Well, uh, hi everyone," I say awkwardly. "Um, first of all, Isabelle, you don't have to call me Mayor. Just Jayden is fine." Isabelle giggles. I hope she doesn't mind; I don't like being called by a title. "Well, um, I'm honoured to be the new mayor of Serenity. I know I can never replace Kelsea completely and I don't intend to, but I know her ultimate dream was to make Serenity the number one town in the district, and I want to help make that happen. I, uh, hope I can do a good job for you, and I'm going to do the best I can at being your mayor."

I was going to try to continue, but I was running out of things to say, and with my pause, the crowd took that as a cue to applaud and that I was done.

I don't know what awaits me in my job as mayor, or in my future in Serenity. But as I look in the crowd, from a loudly cheering Gabriel to a sunny Isabelle to everyone else, I realize that this is the first time ever that I've truly felt like I've belonged somewhere.

I have a new friend and a secretary to help me through this. And I have myself, too. Two weeks ago, if someone asked me to be mayor, I'd have run away screaming. But now, I think I can handle it.

I think I'm slowly getting better. I still may not quite be the happy, outgoing kid I've always wanted to be, but at least now I have a glimmer of hope. I know I can't change overnight; it has to be a gradual thing.

Perhaps the best is yet to come. I never believed that saying before, but maybe it's true after all.

Serenity is not like it used to be. People may never see it as that perfect, idyllic paradise again. Like Carli, who is clearly sulky and glum in the back. It will be a long road to recovery, to make Serenity rise from these ashes. No way are we ranked as high as number five in the district after this mess. But for me, oddly enough, I like it better. I'm happier now than I was before.

This is my paradise.


End file.
